Dr. Jemsek To Continue Practicing Medicine

Lyme Disease Action welcomes the news that Dr. Joseph Jemsek will be able to continue practicing medicine.

Dr. Jemsek is a well-known LLMD (Lyme-literate MD) and staunch supporter of Lyme and Tick-Borne disease patients. Dr. Jemsek, an infectious disease specialist, who practices in North Carolina, USA had been under
investigation by the North Carolina Medical Board (NCMB). He faced charges relating to his treatment protocols which are in line with the professional opinion of many other LLMDs. If the NCMB had found against him, he could have lost his license to practice medicine, which would have been a very
retrograde step for his many patients.

The Jemsek clinic issued the following press release.

   Jemsek Clinic Press Release

Dr. Joseph G. Jemsek To Continue Practicing Medicine North Carolina.

Medical Board Hearing Results in “Suspension With Stay”

(Huntersville, NC) – June 16, 2006 After a two-day hearing regarding Dr. Joseph G. Jemsek’s diagnosis and treatment of the chronic form of Lyme disease, the North Carolina Medical Board issued a one-year “suspension with stay” of Jemsek’s medical license. The
suspension allows Dr. Jemsek to continue practicing medicine while meeting certain stipulations that are yet to be decided by the North Carolina Medical Board. They will do so at their next monthly session in July.

There are disagreements within the medical community about how best to treat the chronic form of Lyme disease, but all agree that there is much to be learned about the bacteria that cause the disease and the best path of treatment for patients who contract the disease. Dr. Jemsek currently
sees approximately 400 Lyme disease patients from the United States and Europe.

“While disappointed with the suspension, I am very happy that it came with a ‘stay’ which allows me to continue practicing medicine,” says Jemsek.

On Thursday, Dr. Brian Fallon and Dr. Steven Phillips, presented data and research about the disease and evolving treatment protocols which illustrated how much is known, and not known, about this disease. Fallon is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the Columbia University
College of Physicians and Surgeons, is the director of the Lyme Disease Research Program at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Phillips is a Lyme researcher with a Lyme-specific medical practice in Connecticut. “I am hopeful that research conducted by Drs. Fallon and Phillips and
others, will continue and grow and am thankful that the North Carolina Medical (more) Board listened to their fascinating and important contributions to the science regarding the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease,” says Jemsek. “As with other Lyme-treating physicians around the
country, I am working with our patients in order to get them well using the best available science to date. I am humbled every day by the patients that we have been able to help and as the science evolves, so will treatment protocols.”

The Jemsek Clinic is an infectious disease specialty clinic located in Huntersville, NC. Opened in 2000, the clinic focuses mainly on HIV/AIDS and Lyme disease.