HF 2597 Summary

• Prohibits the Board of Medical Practice from disciplining physicians solely for prescribing, administering, or dispensing long-term antibiotic therapy to patients clinically diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease.

• Defines "chronic Lyme disease" as clinical diagnosis by a primary care physician, rheumatologist, infectious disease specialist, or neurologist of signs and symptoms compatible with Borrelia burgdorferi infection that persist after established recommended acute Lyme disease treatment.

• Defines "long-term antibiotic therapy" as prolonged oral, intramuscular, or intravenous antibiotics for periods greater than the recommended 28-day course for acute Lyme disease.

• Allows the Board to bring disciplinary action against physicians who prescribe long-term antibiotic therapy for nontherapeutic purposes, fail to monitor ongoing patient care, or fail to maintain complete and accurate treatment records.

• The provision expires July 1, 2015, or upon passage of federal legislation providing a scientifically qualified assessment of chronic Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment guidelines, whichever is later.