Health committee  Thank you, everybody. Thank you for giving the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation this opportunity to speak before you today on this very important issue. Thank you, Elizabeth May, for putting this important bill forward. Bill C-442 is a very important first step toward developi

Health committee  Ten seconds.

Health committee  CanLyme supports Bill C-442, and our preference is that the wording not be changed to reflect best practices over standard of care. The term best practices has been used far too many times to justify the wrong directions. Besides, what purpose does the term best practices serve

Health committee  Right. Current best practices are a real sore point with us and patients, because the term best practices implies they were derived and developed with an all-inclusive, diverse opinion, where input came from all directions. The current best practices have been developed by very f

Health committee  My understanding is that it was going to be amended to just reflect best practices.

Health committee  We would prefer that the term best practices not be used, or, if it is going to be used, it cannot be used in the framework of “current” best practices, because the current best practices are terrible.

Health committee  Could I add a little bit to that?

Health committee  We hear that from doctors and from people from coast to coast, that IGeneX can't be trusted; they're offering positive results just for a fee; they're a for-profit lab; therefore, they're not to be trusted. I don't think Canadians in general understand the testing process curre

Health committee  I just also wanted to point out that when I asked that company why they did not incorporate that, they told me that...because the United States Centers for Disease Control, but they also said in writing to me that if we want broader testing, they suggest we contact IGeneX , a lab

Health committee  I think if we clarify the patient's role in and around what will be called best practices, the patients and their experts, then I think it's a very good bill.

Health committee  My daughter and my son caught it within a year of each other in British Columbia. I contracted mine in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. I was sick for years before they finally figured it out. It required lengthy treatment for me to get my life back, but I was to the point where I could

Health committee  No, I'm not.

Health committee  I've recovered 90%. I still have some issues, but they're minor compared with what I was living like.

Health committee  Absolutely—so long as it's understood it's collaborative and the patient does have input.

Health committee  True. I agree.