Stop Government Repression of those who speak out on Lyme disease!

Defend Kathleen Dickson, victimised by the Connecticut Dept of Children &
Families for speaking out on Lyme disease!
Defend Lisa Masterson, victimised by the London Borough of Harrow Social
Services for speaking out on Lyme disease!!

The US and British governments are using repressive methods to muzzle anyone
who speaks out on the political issues surrounding Lyme disease.

In the US, insurance corporations and vaccine/biotechnology lobbies have
influenced the medical establishment to lie to the public about the nature,
diagnosis and treatment of Lyme borreliosis .This influence also extends to
Britain, and has contributed to a near-total silence on the issue there..
Lyme is a bacterial tick-borne illness which is rivalling AIDS as the
fastest-growing infectious disease in the US. .If not treated early and
adequately with antibiotics, it can result in a severe incapacitating illness
with neurological, cardiac and other complications.

HOW TO COMPLAIN

Please follow this two-step process:

1) PHONE the Public Relations office of the Connecticut Department of Children
and Families, and make your views known on the repression of Kathleen Dickson
for her campaigning activities. (See letter below for further details.)

Telephone: (+1) 860-550 6305

2) Please EMAIL the following protest letter (or write your own) to the email
addresses at the end of the text.

Lift the ban on speaking the truth on Lyme disease!!
---------------------------------------
Dear sir,
Re two related cases:

Kathleen Dickson, victimised by the CONNECTICUT DEPT OF CHILDREN & FAMILIES for
speaking out on Lyme disease!
and Lisa Masterson, victimised by the LONDON BOROUGH OF HARROW SOCIAL SERVICES
for speaking out on Lyme disease!!

Kathleen Dickson has been among those in the forefront of campaigning in the US
to expose fraudulent practice on Lyme and corporate domination of medical
science on this issue. Kathleen played an active role in the International Lyme
and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS), a world-renowned body of professionals
in the field. She founded Actionlyme, an international advocacy group for
sufferers of the disease. A biochemist, she was one of the key witnesses whose
testimony brought down the fraudulent LymeRix vaccine, which caused enormous
suffering and morbidity when it was put on the market.

As a result, Kathleen became victim to a smear campaign by the authorities who
tried to use an ex-husband convicted of violence against her to testify against
her on a range of bizarre allegations. She has been falsely accused of
substance abuse and mental health problems, threatened with jail, and
threatened by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) with removal of her
kids. On Tuesday, 2 September she will again face court.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Lisa Masterson's story bears some
similarities with Kathleen's. Though Lisa is much newer to Lyme campaigning,
she spoke out publicly on the internet with practical suggestions for raising
public awareness on the issue of Lyme. The British government maintains that
Lyme is extremely rare in the UK, but the true incidence is unknown , as it is
not an officially notifiable disease.

A short time later, Lisa was visited by the social services department of the
London Borough of Harrow where she was staying with her four children, whom US
Lyme specialists believed to be suffering from Lyme encephalopahy. On 14
August, 2003 the social services took her children away from her, citing
"extensive medical tests" ruling out Lyme. In fact these were blood tests
performed in the UK, which the US Congress had acknowledged in 2002 to be
unreliable in ruling out the disease.

Lisa now stands accused of Munchausens-syndrome-by-proxy, and "inducing" Lyme
symptoms in her children. Her case, like Kathleen's, imvolves unsubstantiated
allegations about drugs, and like Kathleen's , was supported by "evidence" from
her ex-partner, who made serious false allegations against Lisa after he was
promised custody of the kids by social services.

The repression against the two women comes against a background of intimidation
and threats against doctors and scientists who have publicly taken a stand
against the corporate interests on Lyme. American doctors who have refused to
submit to the diktat of insurance companies have been hounded by the courts.
Two have even committed suicide as a result of the pressure they faced. In
Britain doctors and researchers also feel intimidated. A young student, Tracey
Mawby, died under suspicious circumstances while researching the public health
risk from Lyme disease in Norfolk, England.

> We demand an end to politically-motivated repression against those who speak
out on Lyme disease!
We demand that Lisa Masterson's children are returned to her, and that all
charges are dropped against Kathleen Dickson!

Sincerely,
Name....
Organisation/Profession..................
Town.....
country.............

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Please email this to the following addresses:
 charris@london.newsquest.co.uk (Editor, Harrow Times, London)

 life@guardian.co.uk (Science newsdesk, The Guardian newspaper, London)
With copies to :
 kathleen.dickson@snet.net and
 mastersonfamilycampaign@yahoo.com