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Grassroots SciComm + Patient Advocacy + Consumer Protection Because patients deserve better LymeScience.org No AI on this account

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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 19/09/2026
52 US senators voted for this
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 17/09/2026
Experts warn against MCAS overdiagnosis, and give Lawrence Afrin the side eye. The MCAS diagnostic criteria spread by Tania Dempsey & Lawrence Afrin are unacceptably non-specific. The outcome is unnecessary worries about MCAS: doi.org/10.1111/all.... doi.org/10.1016/j.ja... doi.org/10.1111/all....
Conditions or clinical presentations that are not diagnostic of MCAS
Some publications36, 37 and lay press information38 have greatly broadened the clinical criteria for MCAS. Nonvalidated laboratory tests have been used to correlate unrelated symptoms with nonvalidated laboratory findings to make a diagnosis of MCAS. This has caused confusion for patients and physicians alike.39, 40 The misconceptions about diagnosing MCAS have affected many patients and impaired their quality of life. 41, 42 More concerning, however, is using the diagnosis of MCAS erroneously and missing a truly treatable underlying condition not related to MCs.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 17/09/2026
Lawrence Afrin is a business partner of ILADS leader Tania Dempsey. They operate an "integrative medicine" clinic together. Dempsey says she diagnoses 80+% of her “chronic Lyme” patients w/ MCAS. Afrin even thinks MCAS could drive spontaneous human combustion, which is not a thing!
Excerpt from Lawrence Afrin's book  Never Bet Against Occam: Mast Cell Activation Disease and the Modern Epidemics of Chronic Illness and Medical Complexity:
Actually, I had heard previously of the alleged phenomenon of spontaneous human combustion, and, like every other normal person, I hadn't thought much of it, imagining it to be halluci-nation or hoax of some sort but here I had in front of me a real, live patient who had had a real, live, multiply witnessed episode of spontaneous human combustion (actually, by the time of the second visit it was now two such episodes), and there simply was no way it was mass hallucination, nor was the-re the slightest reason for the patient or anybody else to be perpetrating any hoax, let alone a hoax as bizarre as this. No, this was not imaginary. He really had started smoking, and there-fore spontaneous human combustion must be possible. Furthermore, it was most likely that MCAS was the root of all of his problems, so it was now "sim-ply" a matter of figuring out at least one mechanism by which MCAS might theoretically drive spontaneous com-bustion.
In the pre-Internet (indeed, the pre-Yahoo/Google) era, reviewing the literature on something like this would have been very challenging. There simply was no medical literature on the sub-
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 05/09/2026
Ask Jay why the Congress-funded CDMRP isn’t good enough grantengine.com/how-to-navig...
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 03/09/2026
At his #Lyme quackery roundtable in December 2025, RFK Jr did the same thing with AIDS that he does with measles: Falsely claim that quacks are being persecuted and that science-based medicine (measles vaccines, AZT) is killing people.
During the AIDS epidemic, in this country, the NIH took the position that they were an ivory tower, that the solution was going to come from them.
And they refused to talk to the physicians who were on the ground in places like Dallas and New York and San Francisco and Los Angeles, where physicians were developing ways of successfully treating the symptoms of AIDS. And those physicians were silenced. They were de-licensed. They were censored. They were demonized and vilified. 
There was a movie made about it called Dallas Buyers Club. My uncle was one of the ones who convinced Anthony Fauci to do parallel track clinical trials with those physicians on the ground to fast track the clinical trials of the remedies that were actually working to heal patients. 
And the agency here did that very reluctantly. They wanted to control and they wanted to develop the treatment.
And they developed AZT, which probably killed more people than AIDS did, conceivably. Oh, it's not a good match. We need to start listening to the public. And that's what this agency is going to do.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 01/09/2026
New: California psychiatrist Jennifer Marie Brewer, MD has settled misconduct charges for mistreating 12 patients. Jennie Brewer ("Respondent") consulted "with R.R., a 'medical intuitive' who uses a photograph of a patient to advise regarding medication and mental health treatment." Excerpts:
36. R.R. would provide a report to Respondent of her feelings and recommendations and often cited “spiritual entities” as a cause of physical manifestations of diseases.
37. Respondent consulted and worked with “medical intuitive" R.R. from June 2019 through September 2019. Respondent used her time and the patients’ data and obtained a report from R.R. She made treatment decisions consistent with R.R.’s suggestions about discontinuing antidepressants and mood stabilizers, and initiating sage tea, garlic, cilantro, etc., in a precise dosing form, in the medication section of the progress notes.
38. As part of her consultation with “medical intuitive” R.R., Respondent transmitted personal and confidential information and medical histories, including a photograph of patients, over an unsecure line or network.
85. On August 11,2016, Respondent commenced treating Patient 7, who was then a 38-year-old female with bipolar 1 disorder with psychotic features and a history of hospitalizations, including a Health and Safety Code section 5150 confinement from January to May 2015 for suicidal ideation.
86. On March 20, 2019, Respondent noted that Patient 7 had been hospitalized in February 2018 for two weeks with mixed episode, suicidal ideation. Patient 7 was to commence Abilify Maintena 300 mg and continued with Lamictal 200 mg for daily mood stabilization.
88. On August 8, 2019, Respondent received a Comprehensive Informational Chart from R.R. pertaining to Patient 7. RR. recommended the following products be considered in Respondent’s prescribing to Patient 7: Hawthorn (viral killer/immune stabilizer); Albiza complex (viral drainage for upper body) ; cilantro extract (bipolar 1 support); sage tea (viral killer/immune support/cholesterol/behavior); Hepatrophin PMG (liver rebuilder); garlic forte (cholesterol support); Aristada (anti-psychotic) 884 mg every two months; and Lamictal (mood stabilizer) 200 mg.
91. Respondent’s care and treatment of Patient 7 constitutes unprofessional conduct through gross negligence and/or repeated negligent acts and/or incompetence and/or failure to maintain accurate and adequate medical records, including, but not limited to, the following:
A. Respondent sought out and accepted advice from a non-licensed health care worker who suggested the use of hawthorn; Albiza complex; cilantro extract; sage tea; Hepatrophin PMG; garlic forte; Aristad; and Lamictal to help Patient 7's bipolar 1 disorder and suicidal ideations. 
B. Respondent added a new regimen (tea and drops) to Patient 7 who was already overwhelmed with basic diet and exercise, and who had a history of medication non-compliance leading to hospitalization.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 28/08/2026
It is wild that earlier this month, MAPS quack John Gaitanis, MD was running a Leucovorin telehealth grift called Meadow Health and now he is leading the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. When questioned about Leucovorin, he responds with whataboutism.
screenshot of meadowbiosciences.com

Meadow Health Start Your Child's Evaluation

• For families of children with autism

Leucovorin care, built for families like yours.

Meadow is the first telehealth platform built to
help families evaluate and access leucovorin care:
clinician-guided, custom-compounded, and
delivered to your door.

• Clinicians who specialize in autism and folate
pathways

A licensed physician decides whether to
prescribe compounded folinic acid for your
child

• Custom-compounded leucovorin, no fillers, no
dyes, delivered to your door each month
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 21/08/2026
Calley Means imitates Donald Trump
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 18/08/2026
Louisiana Surgeon General and RFK Jr’s fake ACIP appointee Evelyn Griffin, MD demonstrates that she should not have a medical license:
She also learned of Barbara O'Neill, a Christian wellness figure popular on social media. Ms. O'Neill was barred in 2019 from giving medical advice in Australia after claiming that cancer was caused by a fungus and could be treated with baking soda, and that vaccines caused "an epidemic of ADHD, autism, epilepsy and cot death." In a 2025 podcast, Dr. Griffin called Ms. O'Neill a "sage" teacher who was ostracized for focusing on lifestyle solutions to medical issues.
She said she kept Ms. O'Neill's advice for a healthy life — including exercise, sunshine and trust in God — posted on her fridge.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 12/08/2026
Anti-vax memes as policy
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 11/08/2026
Same thing in 2015- experts won’t change his mind:
Donald Trump on Hugh Hewitt, 2015:
Hewitt: If a group of scientists came to you and said, look, the Donald, that's just— that's not right, that's— you're giving out misinformation, would you change your mind if presented with facts on that?
Trump: Well, I've seen babies that were totally healthy that weren't healthy, and I'm not asking for anything. All I'm doing is saying spread it out over a period of time.
I'm not saying don't get inoculated, don't get the shots, don't get the vaccines. I'm saying spread it out over a period of time.
It doesn't hurt anybody other than probably the pharmaceutical companies, because they probably make more money putting it into one shot.
Maybe it hurts the doctors, I don't know.
But I can say this, everybody would get the vaccines. They just— they wouldn't be pumping these massive amounts of liquid into a child.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 11/08/2026
Donald Trump in 2012 (and 2015 and on Twitter) said virtually the same thing. It’s a fixed belief. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Donald Trump, 2012:
Well, it happened to somebody that worked for me recently. I mean, they had this beautiful child, not a problem in the world, and all of a sudden they go in, they get this monster shot.
You ever see the size of it? It's like they're pumping in, you know, it's terrible, the amount. And they pump this into this little body, and then all of a sudden the child is different a month later. And I strongly believe that's it.
Now, they have vaccinations, but do them separately and over an extended period of time, not all at one time.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 10/08/2026
Trump and RFK Jr’s anti-vax executive order tasks the Attorney General with bullying states into complying. Senator Bill Cassidy could have stopped RFK Jr and Todd Blanche.
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy tweets:
...
I'm a doctor. This executive order is wrong. The President does not have the expertise to make these changes.
Vaccines are overwhelmingly safe.
Vaccines are effective. Vaccines DO NOT cause autism.
Breaking up vaccines will mean children have to get more shots to get the same protection, not fewer shots. It will increase hesitancy and make children less safe.
Parents should listen to their child's pediatrician about vaccines rather than listening to an inaccurate executive order. This is so wrong.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 08/08/2026
He should provide more detail on which variation(s) of the lab leak hypothesis he supports or rejects. A "not engineered" lab leak.
Ashish Jha: My view on COVID origins isn't new — l've held it
since my time at the White House

Here's the truth: no one in America knows for sure.
Anyone telling you they do is selling you something

Based on strong circumstantial evidence I've seen,
I think lab leak is much more likely. Not engineered.
Not deliberate. Accidental

Reasonable people can look at the same evidence
and disagree
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 06/08/2026
1925: Darrow cited for contempt for saying monkeys evolved naturally 2026: Fauci cited for contempt for saying COVID evolved naturally
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 06/08/2026
RFK Jr already told us everything in 2023: He said "I do not believe that infectious disease is an enormous threat to human health." He suggests HIV, COVID, Lyme, RSV, & Spanish flu are all lab leaks. He wants to terminate ID grants & funnel the money to cronies. lymescience.org/files/2023-0...
RFK Jr in 2023:
I do not believe that infectious disease is an enormous threat to human health.

We had a huge death rate from COVID in this country, but almost everybody who died had chronic disease. 

In fact, they had an average—according to CDC—of 3.8 chronic diseases. 

The real threat to American health is not coming from infections, it's coming from chronic disease. And that is what we should target for all of our research.RFK Jr in 2023:

I will end all gain of function research. I will sign a treaty to end gain of function research, you know to get all the nations to end gain of function research. 

It's just a disaster. It's given us no benefits. It's given us everything from Lyme disease to Covid and many, many other diseases. 

That RSV—which is now one of the biggest killers of children—came out of, you know, a vaccine lab, you know, so…. RFK Jr in 2023:

And we can go down the whole list of diseases that, you know, down to… And there's good evidence that even Spanish flu came from vaccine and vaccine research. And, you know, we don't know and we'll probably never know, but there are very, very strong articles suggesting that now. 

The medical research on these diseases and vaccine research has actually created some of the worst plagues in our history. Anybody who reads The River will come away pretty much convinced that HIV also came from a vaccine program.I'm also going to intervene directly with the journals. I'm going to call the journals into the Department of Justice and tell them that we believe that they're involved in racketeering with the pharmaceutical industry to systematically lie to the public through their retractions, through their financial entanglements, which encourage them to publish false information to promote the pharmaceutical products.

But one thing I can directly do that I'm most excited about is I can terminate a lot of the grants to infectious disease and virologists, and I can redirect those grants and just order FDA to stop writing those kind of grants and to instead start writing grants to study chronic disease.

I'm going to pressure the journals to publish great, you know, publish the results of these studies. 

We're going to start funneling studies to a different group of scientists, to people who actually want to see where the chronic disease is going to come from.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 29/07/2026
In 2005, young 60 Minutes reporter Anderson Cooper exposed notorious "chronic Lyme" fraudster James Shortt, MD. Shortt killed MS patient Katherine Bibeau with IV hydrogen peroxide. Shortt also defrauded Janet & Michael Bate as Michael was dying of prostate cancer.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 28/07/2026
It’s a weird sort of maybe it’s a scam but I did it anyway.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 28/07/2026
Ross Douthat is also a patient of chiropractor and “certified Lyme magnetic practitioner” Carrie Hartney Douthat decided to get his magnet quackery locally rather than travel to Idaho, a popular destination in the chronic Lyme cult. Muscle testing and magnetic therapy are incredible nonsense.
I was not about to go spend a couple of weeks in Idaho, asking Abby to accept the theory of magnetic treatment while I left her with the kids, but there was a chiropractor in central Connecticut who offered a similar treatment, just fifty bucks per appointment, and I thought, What the hell. (I thought that a lot about treatments in those days.) So I drove up 1-91 one morning after dropping the kids at school and submitted myself to her ministrations, which were really two fringe treatments rolled into one: the magnets themselves and then, to determine exactly where to place them, a little bit of muscle testing, so-called kinesiology, in which the practitioner asks your body questions and gets answers through the resistance, or lack thereof, to her pressure in hands or muscle groups."
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 28/07/2026
Ross Douthat was buying inappropriate/dangerous antimicrobials from quacks & pet stores even before COVID charlatans popularized it. In addition to rife machines, herbs/supplements, & IV ceftriaxone, he took antibiotics for 6 years! He aptly refers to himself as “reckless” 5x in his book. Excerpt:
"I worked with the Maverick on a new three-drug protocol, tetracycline and rifampin and Bactrim, which I paired with the Tindamax and with the widening array of cyst busters recommended by the internet. That meant I was taking about twelve antibiotic pills a day"
"I kept supplementing my course with antibiotics left over from the earlier doctors' prescriptions. Eventually those ran out and I began to supplement instead with antibiotics that I bought first from overseas pharmacies and then, for a while, from online pet stores—the same pills as the pharmacy, with weaker quality control but no need for a prescription, and fish or peacocks on the bottles."
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 28/07/2026
Nick Bilton is spreading Ross Douthat's lie. Douthat is a member of the chronic Lyme cult. He was quack-diagnosed with "chronic lyme" and "chronic bartonella." As with any cult member, Douthat spent large amounts of money on nonsense and spread the dangerous gospel to others.
[begin excerpt of letter from Nick Bilton]
All
I hope everyone has had a great July with loved ones. We have so many stellar pieces in the works for Season 59-thank you for your efforts on those.
Today, I am pleased to share some great news, and the first of many exciting announcements to come. An exceptional lineup of journalists will be joining 60 Minutes, carrying on its tradition of fearless, independent and impartial reporting. I can't wait for them to
get started.
Before I introduce our new colleagues, a word about Norah O'Donnell: Norah is a powerhouse. You've seen her all over the network. She's launched a new podcast. And you'll see much more of her in our halls because Norah will be a correspondent on 60 Minutes. Norah has contributed exceptional pieces to the show for more than a dozen years, including interviews with Pope Francis, President Trump, President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman.
Please join me in congratulating Norah and in welcoming the following new faces to 60 Minutes:
Ross Douthat will join CBS News as a 60 Minutes Correspondent. Ross is one of the preeminent public intellectuals in America today, a thinker of uncommon rigor and a journalist of deep empathy. A Ross interview-and he's interviewed on camera Vice President Vance, Dario Amodei, Amy Coney Barrett, Hasan Piker and Ben Sasse among others-is a special conversation, expansive and probing and news making. In nearly two decades at The New York Times, and in his work at The Atlantic before that, and in seven books, Ross has tackled politics, religion and culture-and what his own struggle with Lyme disease taught him about suffering. He makes controversial topics approachable and renders characters and points of view with richness and compassion. Ross will bring this big and ranging curiosity to our air. He will be based in New York.
[end excerpt]
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 23/07/2026
The CDC Autism and Vaccines page received a minor update yesterday. The reference to RFK Jr's agreement with Bill Cassidy has been removed. Dark red = removed. Dark green = additions. RFK Jr had anti-vax lies added to the page in November 2025. www.factcheck.org/2025/11/revi...
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 15/07/2026
Thermography is not an alternative to mammograms. But Kristine Blanche’s grift pays:
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 13/07/2026
They’re channeling Goop in 2017
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 09/07/2026
Joseph Jemsek, MD is the “lyme literate” cult leader who falsely diagnosed Phillip Moore with “chronic Lyme” when he really had cancer. The CDC, LA Times, and WRAL wrote up his case: www.latimes.com/archives/la-... jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... www.wral.com/archive/1091...
A man in his late 30s presented with a 4-year history of fatigue, abdominal pain, and loose stools. Previous evaluations demonstrated stable mesenteric lymphadenopathy. Although he lived in an area where Lyme disease is rare, reported no history of erythema migrans, and had negative Lyme serologic test results, he was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease by a physician and treated with antibiotics (Table). Subse-quently, the patient discontinued treatment and was reevaluated by a gastroenterologist and an oncologist. Findings from a gastric biopsy demonstrated stage IV mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma; successive Lyme serologic test results were negative. Findings from a mesenteric lymph node biopsy and positron emission tomographic scan demonstrated stage IV classic Hodgkin lymphoma, for which the patient underwent chemotherapy. He died 2 years later of complications of advanced lymphoma.One of Jemsek's former patients, Phillip Moore of Concord, said after the meeting that he was satisfied with the board's action.
"He will be held accountable for every patient who walks through his door," said Moore, who said Jemsek treated for Lyme disease although later independent testing showed he didn't have it.
Moore said Jemsek wanted to test his wife on the grounds that Lyme disease was spread by sexual contact. At one point, Moore said he was given an anti-psychotic drug for "Lyme rage."For patients who have no answers after bouncing from doctor to doctor, physicians who diagnose and treat chronic Lyme disease can become heroes.
Phillip Moore initially felt that way about Dr. Joseph Jemsek, who in 2004 diagnosed Moore with Lyme in North Carolina. “He made you feel like he was the only person on the planet that was going to make you better and save you,” Moore said.
But Moore now says he feels duped. After enduring intravenous antibiotic treatments that made him so sick he had to take a three-month leave from his job, Moore learned from a different doctor that his tests and clinical history showed he didn’t have Lyme disease. This year, Moore was told he had a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and that the cancer had spread.
“In my heart, I know it delayed my opportunity for treatment,” the 45-year-old father said of his Lyme diagnosis.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 09/07/2026
Europeans were curing Lyme disease in the 1940s. Museum specimens show it's a lot older. Lyme is only spread by black-legged ticks and is fairly well-characterized. The Chronic Lyme cult is an anti-science movement that hijacked #Lyme. Its leaders defraud patients and spread conspiracy theories.
An iceberg meme titled "CHRONIC LYME ACTIVISM" with a list of negative claims written on the submerged portion of the iceberg. The text written on the underwater part of the iceberg includes:  CULT-LIKE ATMOSPHERE, INCOMPETENT "LYME LITERATE" QUACKS, MEDICAL CHILD ABUSE, MULTIPLE FAKE DISEASES, REAL PROBLEMS LEFT UNTREATED, CRAZY DRUG COCKTAILS, ALL MANNER OF BOGUS TREATMENTS, TREATMENT SIDE EFFECTS, DRAINED FINANCES, CONSPIRACY THEORIES
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 08/07/2026
Excerpt from the license suspension of integrative/functional/autism quack Janelle Love, MD. Janelle Love exhibited bizarre behavior regarding a long-time patient. That foot note 🫠
15. In her interview with Board investigators, the Respondent Janelle Love] stated her practice focuses on bioidentical hormone therapy, gastrointestinal issues, toxins, and cognitive concerns.
16. The Respondent stated that the Patient was a longstanding patient and she treated her for a variety of medical conditions.
17. On August 8, 2025, the
Respondent stated the Holy Spirit told her the Patient placed witchcraft on her and her phone, prompting her to cease care. 3
18. The Respondent
acknowledged she did not notify the Patient of the termination or provide
30-days notice, and did not authorize prescription refills thereafter.
3 The Respondent admits that the Patient never discussed witchcraft, sorcery or religion with
her.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 01/07/2026
William Thompson is the CDC employee who helped spawn the anti-vax #CDCWhistleblower conspiracy theory and the Wakefield/Bigtree Vaxxed film that hypes it. He is an utter disgrace.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 29/06/2026
Harms of the chronic #Lyme cult: Quacks convince Yolanda Hadid that she's infested with 20+ micro-invaders, treatable only by them. Yolanda tortures herself. Bella & Anwar become victims of Medical Child Abuse. Bella donates money that could be used to abuse more kids.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 28/06/2026
Donald Trump, 2014: Promotes anti-vax #CDCWhistleblower conspiracy theory, which was spawned by disgraced CDC scientist William Thompson. RFK Jr, 2025: Starts dismantling the US vaccine infrastructure within 24 hours of being appointed HHS secretary by Trump. And RFK Jr recruits Thompson to help.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 26/06/2026
New study examines crowdfunding for unproven stem cell-based treatments for ALS. It’s disheartening to see quacks targeting ALS patients. Note the bogus #Lyme and toxins claims. Authors: @marcozenone.bsky.social @caulfieldtim.bsky.social @jsnyder.bsky.social Michael Jewer doi.org/10.1080/2167...
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 23/06/2026
Below: LymeScience infographic on #Lyme Arthritis Papers on Lyme arthritis by Drs. Sheila Arvikar and Allen Steere: academic.oup.com/jid/article/... pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Lyme Arthritis: Typical manifestation of late stage Lyme disease in North America 

• Average 6 months after infection 
• Pain and swelling in one or a few large joints, usually a knee 
• Usually no systemic symptoms 
• Symptoms diminish with time, with or without treatment 
• Long term antibiotics not helpful 
• 100% detectable with tests 
• Spread by black legged tick, attached typically > 36-48 hours 
• Transmission is very restricted, geographically/seasonally 

A graph illustrates decreasing percent of 21 untreated Lyme arthritis patients with recurrent attacks, over a period of 8 years from roughly 90% to 5%

Adapted by LymeScience.org from papers by Dr. Allen Steere and colleagues (1987, 2015, 2016), knee image from CDC
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 21/06/2026
The podcast @whyshoulditrustyou.bsky.social interviewed Mehmet Oz, a supporter of health fraudsters for over 3 decades: Article from 1995 www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9508/...
Dr. Oz acknowledges that his work is controversial, and that he does "get heat" for it. And some of that heat is
coming from the National Council
Against Health Fraud.
"Columbia set up an alternative medicine center funded by private people who support a fraudulent alternative," claims Dr. Victor Herbert.A Conversation with Dr. Mehmet Oz:
On the Erosion of Trust in Experts, Rethinking Safety Nets & Fraud
Why Should I Trust You?
131
LymeScience @lymescience.org · 18/06/2026
A preventable death. For decades, people convinced that they have "chronic Lyme disease" have tried to heat their bodies in desperate and dangerous attempts to kill fictional micro-invaders. In a new book Wormhole, Hannah McElhinney writes about her cousin Lauren, a #Lyme quackery victim.
McElhinney said Lauren’s family only became aware she had travelled after she was already in hospital, when a message was sent via social media from an unfamiliar account alerting them to her condition. “She was in Malaysia… and they can’t bring her out of the anesthetic,” McElhinney recalled. Lauren died following complications during treatment.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 16/06/2026
3 years ago at a crankfest, RFK Jr said he'd interfere with scientific grants and journals if given the chance:
RFK Jr at a health policy roundtable, June 27, 2023:

I'm also going to intervene directly with the journals. I'm going to call the journals into the Department of Justice and tell them that we believe that they're involved in racketeering with the pharmaceutical industry to systematically lie to the public through their retractions, through their financial entanglements, which encourage them to publish false information to promote the pharmaceutical products. 
But one thing I can directly do that I'm most excited about is I can terminate a lot of the grants to infectious disease and virologists, and I can redirect those grants and just order FDA to stop writing those kind of grants and to instead start writing grants to study chronic disease. 
I'm going to pressure the journals to publish great, you know, publish the results of these studies. We're going to start funneling studies to a different group of scientists, to people who actually want to see where the chronic disease is going to come from.
13619
LymeScience @lymescience.org · 10/06/2026
Question for Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos, employee of RFK Jr: Why refer vulnerable patients to chronic Lyme cult leaders given your acknowledgement of the overwhelming science that long-term antibiotics aren't warranted (and are dangerous) for people with persistent symptoms after #Lyme disease?
Excerpt from “Making Invisible Illnesses Visible: Recognizing and Responding to Infection Associated Chronic Conditions” [IACC], where Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos is listed as co-author:
Five randomized clinical trials have failed to find benefit from prolonged antibiotic treatment (typically intravenous ceftriaxone, often in combination with oral doxycycline) in Lyme disease IACCI and four of the five found harms including frequent antibiotic-related adverse events, catheter and infusion complications, and occasional serious events requiring hospitalization including sepsis.7 [7 = NASEM committee report paid for by chronic Lyme pseudoscience advocates] 
Prolonged therapy with antibiotics also increases individual and population level risks for C. difficile infection and antimicrobial resistance, respectively. 
Given absence of benefit and substantial evidence of harm, there is a need to search for causes besides persistent infection which could lead to effective targeted therapies.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 08/06/2026
Social media is toxic and taking a break is usually a good thing. It would be nice to not ghost David Sanders, who asked about the source of an anti-vaccine talking point made to RFK Jr’s bizarro ACIP that is on the CDC website. Note: The “Giving Wakefield” preprint didn’t attempt to measure mRNA.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 01/06/2026
The NY Times wrote about the anti-psychiatry aspect of the chronic Lyme cult 25 years ago, and it’s worse than ever now. Quotes are NYTimes. Commentary about anti-psychiatry is LymeScience. www.nytimes.com/2001/06/17/m... lymescience.org/scientific-c...
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 01/06/2026
ILADS president-elect Eboni Cornish née Smith, MD has a long record of dishonesty but sadly was granted a medical license. Eboni Cornish partnered with Sam Shor & long-time SPECT scan quack Daniel Amen, MD and has heavily promoted the fake Morgellons diagnosis. lymescience.org/rogues/Eboni...
You may be in violation of Section 54.1-2915.A(4) of the Code in that you are incompetent to practice medicine, as evidenced by several evaluations submitted with your application stating that your fund of knowledge, physical/mental examination skills, and clinical judgment was not at a third-year resident level; concerns about your poor ethical and professional conduct because you were dishonest about the care given to your patients; and your misrepresentations about your competency and reasons why you were absent from work. Further, you failed to successfully complete the residency program at Georgetown University /Providence Hospital due to the concerns noted above.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 01/06/2026
Former ILADS president Samuel Shor, MD reprimanded for Unprofessional Conduct in what looks to be long-term torture of a patient. Note how chronic Lyme quackery works: Numerous unjustified diagnoses and drugs. It's not just about Lyme. lymescience.org/rogues/Sam-S...
d. Despite the prior tests in December 2008 and January 2009 as well as additional tests in August 2013, November 2013, and September 2016, all indicating that Patient A was negative for Lyme disease, bartonella, or babesia, Dr. Shor continued to prescribe or authorized subordinates in his practice to prescribe multiple antibiotics, antifungals, antimicrobials, and/or antimalarials for LBC concomitantly with benzodiazepines, psychotropics, sedative hypnotics, and/or opioids in continuous or prolonged courses and in various combinations from approximately 2009 through 2019, absent any adequate medical justification.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 01/06/2026
Questions for Dr. Haridopolos: Why promote the false claim that HHS hadn't fully recognized Lyme disease? Have you seen the evidence that "chronic Lyme" is an abusive cult? Victims have spoken out! LymeScience has pages on Red Flags, Medical Child Abuse, victim stories, good journalism, and more.
A false tweet from Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos of a JBizNews article with the headline Kennedy, First HHS Secretary to Fully Recognize Lyme Disease, Launches Historic National Initiative
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 01/06/2026
Top quack Joseph Burrascano, MD has financial ties to two predatory labs (IgeneX and Advanced Lab) and was found guilty of professional misconduct in treating two patients. There's very good evidence that single-dose doxycycline works as #Lyme prophylaxis. lymescience.org/rogues-galle...
The Committee sustained factual allegations that the Respondent [ILADS leader Joseph Burrascano] committed negligence in treating Patient D, by treating the Patient for ehrlichiosis, without clinical and laboratory evidence that the Patient suffered from the disease. 
The Committee also found the Respondent negligent for prescribing Bicillin for Patient F on a continuous basis after the Patient suffered a seizure while on the medication. 
The Committee determined that the Respondent practiced with negligence on more than one occasion in treating Patients D and F and that the Respondent subjected Patient D to unwarranted treatment.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 29/05/2026
Disgusting: RFK Jr partners with the dangerous quack group ILADS. Many ILADS-associated cult leaders are featured in our Rogues Gallery. See the license revocations of ILADS board members Joseph Jemsek, MD, Phillip DeMio, MD, and Leila Zackrison, MD lymescience.org/category/rog...
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 28/05/2026
RFK Jr doesn't care if people become chronically infected with HepB, HIV, HPV, herpes zoster, & SSPE-causing measles as a result of his toxic policies. RFK Jr (with Stephanie Haridopolos & HHS anti-science activist Kristen Honey) is busy promoting the delusional claims of the chronic #Lyme cult.
Secretary Kennedy to Announce Major New HHS Actions on Lyme Disease in New Hampshire

WASHINGTON—MAY 28, 2026—U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will travel to New Hampshire on Friday as part of his “Take Back Your Health” tour, joining members of the state legislature and community advocates to commemorate Lyme Disease Awareness Month by announcing new HHS actions to combat the disease.

WHAT: Press conference announcing new HHS actions on Lyme diseaseWHO:

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos, Director of National Health Communications for the Office of the Surgeon General

Dr. Kristen Honey, HHS Chief Data Officer

New Hampshire State Senate President Sharon Carson

Members of the New Hampshire state legislature

Lyme disease advocates
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 28/05/2026
Congressman John James will likely be the Republican nominee in the MI governor's race. He has committed to using his position to spreading bizarre beliefs. In conspiracy mongering with RFK Jr, he evokes the fundamental dogma of the chronic Lyme cult, that Lyme is The One True Cause of All Disease.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 28/05/2026
Disturbing: Michigan Congressman John James and his wife Elizabeth James are part of the chronic #Lyme cult, where Medical Child Abuse runs rampant. Congressman James endorsed bizarre beliefs and predatory lab IgeneX. He claims his wife & kids have Lyme despite negative standard tests.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 27/05/2026
The vile quack group Independent Medical Alliance is hyping bleach treatments used in a manner that looks like animal abuse.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 24/05/2026
In the 90s, chronic #Lyme cult leaders expanded their grift to include fraudulent diagnoses of babesia & bartonella. They also falsely claimed that stretch marks meant bartonella. Long-term antibiotics in this report are hallmarks of quackery, which caused corneal deposits. doi.org/10.1016/j.aj...
An assessment of his medical history revealed that he was initially diagnosed with bartonellosis based on PCR testing positive for Bartonella henselae SA1 11 years prior when he developed fatigue, calf pain, and foot paresthesia. He completed an eight-month course of doxycycline and rifampin treatment but had multiple recurrences of symptoms which led to prolonged treatment. The regimen was changed to rifabutin, clarithromycin, and minocycline four years prior after his care was transitioned to a different physician.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 22/05/2026
A nurse who worked with anti-vaccine pediatrician Shareen Ismail, MD has affirmed that Ismail asked her for fraudulent vaccination records for Ismail’s young son.
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LymeScience @lymescience.org · 22/05/2026
Jim O'Neill and Jay Bhattacharya reject the basic concepts of science
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