Kris Newby

2.5 stars

"There's no such thing as a clean tick." -Willy Burgdorfer, as quoted on p 165

This book has a fascinating premise - author Newby suggests that the Lyme disease epidemic began with a military bioweapons experiment gone wrong.

The book was a very quick and easy read - unfortunately, I didn't learn very much. Even though Newby includes plenty of science, the book still felt very "fluffy" to me - there really weren't any definitive conclusions, just a lot of speculation and questions. Despite the subtitle, she seemed to spend more time talking about rickettsias than borrelia, the microbe that is believed to cause Lyme disease. Also, though not surprising at all, it made me sigh to read that she accepts the evolutionary theory as fact.

It was interesting, for the most part, but not nearly as "complete" as I was hoping for.

"[Lyme disease] was the first major new disease discovered after the Bayh-Dole Act and the Diamond v. Chakrabarty Supreme Court decision made it possible for the NIH, the CDC, and universities to patent and profit from 'ownership' of live organisms... All of a sudden, the institutions that were supposed to be protectors of public health became business partners with Big Pharma." pp 229-230

"My office uncovered undisclosed financial interests held by several of the most powerful IDSA [Infectious Diseases Society of America] panelists. The IDSA's guideline panel improperly ignored or minimized consideration of alternative medical opinion and evidence regarding chronic Lyme disease, potentially raising serious questions about whether the recommendations reflected all relevant science." -Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal (now a senator), in a 2008 antitrust settlement press release, as quoted on p 121… (mehr)

Thank you, Kris Newby, for writing this book. Most of us living with chronic Lyme disease have been betrayed by doctors. All of us have been betrayed by our government. The truth of this disease needs a giant spotlight exposing all the dark secrets, and this book is that spotlight.

The story unraveled within these pages is jarring and disturbing, but for those of us living with this disease, it's not surprising. The CDC has persistently and defiantly refused to acknowledge this epidemic, despite the very real data proving its existence. When a government agency is working harder to ignore an epidemic than to understand it, that speaks volumes about its complicity.

From an objective standpoint, the history here is fascinating. Newby doesn't address only Lyme disease. She exposes the history of many tickborne illnesses, the drive toward biological warfare, and the accidents, secrecy, and terrible judgment along the way.

This book is exceptionally well researched and well written. If I thought my doctors would bother to read it, I'd buy them each a copy.… (mehr)