ILADS treatment of Lyme disease. There is a first fine!

It should be recalled that the above-mentioned guidelines stipulate the use in patients with "chronic" Lyme disease (while current medical knowledge does not know of such a disease entity), of long-term, multi-month antibiotic therapy, also using more than one antibiotic at a time. The binding standards stipulate the use of a single antibiotic for up to 30 days in the treatment of properly diagnosed Lyme disease. Expert opinions on the matter obtained by the Patient Ombudsman unequivocally indicate that treatment according to the ILADS guidelines and criteria is incompatible with current medical knowledge, has no medical justification, is not effective, and even causes significant harm to the patient's health. The consequences of months of antibiotic therapy can be catastrophic, including permanent damage to the liver, pancreas, intestines, kidneys, central nervous system, tendonitis, predisposition to Clostridium difficile infections.

The Patient Ombudsman has conducted proceedings in this regard for practices that violate the collective rights of patients against 25 medical facilities; all of these proceedings have been completed, and in the case of 15 of them, the Patient Ombudsman found irregularities and the use of the aforementioned method of treatment for patients and ordered its immediate cessation.

In 13 cases, the Patient Ombudsman also notified the professional responsibility authorities for physicians - district professional responsibility ombudsmen - of the irregularities found.

Decisions of the Patient Ombudsman are by law given the order of immediate enforceability, so they should be executed immediately, as soon as possible. Failure to implement the decision will result in a fine of up to PLN 500,000.

Two medical facilities have failed to implement the Patient Ombudsman's decision.

One wanted to circumvent the Patient Ombudsman's decision and, instead of the ILADS method, stated that it would treat patients according to the guidelines of the German Lyme Disease Scientific Society, which also - like ILADS - provide for chronic antibiotic use. It should be pointed out that the subject of the decision is not strictly the use of the ILADS method, but precisely the long-term antibiotic therapy stipulated by ILADS. After the initiation of the proceedings for the imposition of a fine, the facility stopped treating tick-borne diseases altogether, nevertheless, in the absence of immediate implementation of the decision, the Patient Ombudsman was obliged to impose a fine on it - a fine of almost PLN 130,000 was imposed.

The Patient Ombudsman also initiated another proceeding to impose a fine on a second medical entity that failed to implement the Patient Ombudsman's decision and abandon practices that violate patients' collective rights. In this case, in addition to the use of the ILADS method in the treatment of Lyme disease, the Patient Ombudsman also found the use of oligonucleotide therapy (SOT) in the treatment of patients with oncological diseases, in the treatment of battery and viral diseases to be incompatible with current medical knowledge.

It should be noted that on April 18, 2024, the first judgment concerning treatment with the ILADS method and the decision of the Patient Ombudsman was handed down before the Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw (V SA/Wa 58/24) - in this ruling, the court dismissed the complaint of the medical entity and upheld the Ombudsman's decision. In doing so, the court fully agreed with the position of the Patient Ombudsman, pointing out that the evidence gathered in the case leaves no doubt that the use of months-long antibiotic therapy in accordance with the ILADS guidelines is incompatible with current medical knowledge and dangerous for patients.

Source: Patient Ombudsman