IDSA Seeks Panel Members to Review Lyme Practice Guidelines

[Guest guest]

Anyone qualify or know someone who qualifies and can make the time to

do this? We need to make sure Burrascano and others know about this.

Heidi N

IDSA Seeks Panel Members to Review Lyme Practice Guidelines

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is seeking

physicians and scientists to volunteer to serve on a review panel to

determine whether the SocietyâEURTMs 2006 practice guidelines on Lyme

disease should be revised or updated.

IDSA Lyme Disease Review Panel Application

August 1, 2008

http://www.idsociety.org/Content.aspx?id=11586

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is seeking

physicians and scientists to volunteer to serve on a review panel to

determine whether the Society's 2006 practice guidelines on Lyme

disease should be revised or updated.

IDSA has entered into an agreement with the Attorney General of

Connecticut ending his antitrust investigation of the SocietyâEURTMs

Lyme

disease guidelines. Under the agreement, the guidelines remain in

effect; but IDSA is agreeing to an extra step: a one-time special

review of the literature to determine whether the 2006 Lyme disease

guidelines should be revised or updated. The timing of this review is

consistent with the usual practice of reviewing published IDSA

guidelines for changes every few years, but is distinctive, in that

the review will be conducted by an independent panel.

To that end, a panel of eight to 12 physicians and scientists will be

assembled to review and critically appraise the literature on Lyme

disease. The panel will also consider data and other information

submitted to IDSA and will hold a public hearing where i

ndividuals may

present data to the panel for consideration. At the conclusion of this

process, the review panel will evaluate whether each of the

recommendations in the 2006 guidelines is supported by the scientific

evidence and will make a recommendation to IDSA as to whether its 2006

guidelines should be revised or updated. Any proposed recommendations

shall require a supermajority of 75 percent or more of the total

voting members of the panel.

Medical ethicist Brody, MD, PhD, of the University of Texas

Medical Branch, Institute for the Medical Humanities has been jointly

selected by the Office of the Attorney General and IDSA and will serve

as an ombudsman who will screen applicants for potential conflicts of

interest.

*Conflict of Interest Disclosure form must be completed online,

downloaded, signed by a notary public, and mailed directly to IDSA.

Interested applicants can get begin to apply here:

http://www.idsociety.org/Content.aspx?id=11586

Also, of interest are the selection criteria of of this independent

panel and it's chair.

The time committment of panel members is described as:

" It is estimated that the review process will take eight - 12 months.

Over this period, members of the review panel will be expected to

participate in several one- to two-hour conference calls and attend at

least one, two-day, in-person meeting that will include the public

hearing. Panel members will be required to critically review the

literature on Lyme disease. It is estimated that this and any

necessary e-mail exchanges w

ill take 10-15 hours per month or two-four

hours per week. "