DPH chief criticized
It is unfortunate that Interim Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Lauren Smith made statements regarding patients with chronic Lyme disease that do not reflect evolving understanding about the persistent symptoms that many patients experience because of delayed or inadequate treatment. [After the Winter ’13 issue went to press with the article “Mass. Commission taking new tack on Lyme disease,” Smith said her agency would not support the use of long-term antibiotics to treat Lyme disease.]
The two DPH representatives on the Lyme Commission worked with the rest of Lyme Commission members to produce a carefully worded document that emphasizes the importance for doctors to recognize that there are numerous patients with persisting symptoms, and that further research is needed to determine whether persisting infection is or is not the cause of these symptoms. Currently, there are no tests or means to determine if the bacteria that cause Lyme disease are still present or absent in a given individual with what is usually described as chronic or post-Lyme disease.
Until the time comes when there are more data about the mechanisms underlying the persisting symptoms of patients with Lyme disease, it is inappropriate to conclude that there is no such thing as chronic Lyme disease, and that there are not other antibiotic treatment regimens that can be effective. Indeed, there are well-documented, peer-reviewed publications that describe effective antibiotic regimens.
Dr. Sam Donta
Lyme Commission member
Falmouth
UPDATES
Film tax credit
In our last issue, we reported that the success of the state’s film tax credit was prompting local entrepreneurs to jump into the movie business (“Film tax credit launching businesses,” Inquiries). One company is building a film studio in Devens and another launched a production truck rental business in Northborough. Shortly after our report, Gov. Deval Patrick created some uncertainty for those entrepreneurs by proposing to cap the film tax credit at $40 million a year. The move is expected to save the state $20 million in fiscal 2014 and $40 million the following year. Patrick made a similar proposal several years ago, but backed off in the face of opposition from industry officials and lawmakers. Even so, the hint of change caused a falloff in movie productions in Massachusetts. Patrick responded at the time by sending a delegation to Hollywood promising fealty to the tax credit.
Brockton charter rejected
As our last issue reported (“Schooling outside the box,” Head Count), Brockton and Pittsfield are the only Gateway Cities without a charter or innovation school, a distinction that continues after state officials rejected an application by the International Charter School of Brockton. The proposed Brockton charter school would have been run by the for-profit SABIS Educational Systems Inc., which operates 80 other schools around the world, including in Holyoke and Springfield. The charter proposal, backed by former Brockton mayor Jack Yunits (whose mayoral memoir is reviewed in this issue), was opposed by the city’s public schools establishment, including the district’s superintendent, Matthew Malone, who in January became Gov. Patrick’s new secretary of education.
Virtual school confusion
The Massachusetts Virtual Academy at Greenfield, the focus of a story on virtual learning last spring (“Log-on learning,” Spring ’12), nearly shut down. The Greenfield School Committee decided to close the school this summer rather than submit to state oversight as required by a law signed in January. But then the committee changed its mind. Our earlier story on the school, which serves 470 students across the state, found disappointing academic results and an administration that was resistant to outside scrutiny.