HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1608        FILED ON: 1/13/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3592

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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Resolve An Act relative to tick borne illnesses..

Resolved, That a special commission, to consist of: 3 members of the senate, 1 of whom  shall be appointed by the senate minority leader; 3 members of the house of representatives, 1 of whom shall  be appointed by the house minority leader; the commissioner of the department of public health or his designee; the commissioner of education or his designee; the chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Medical School or his designee; the Dean of the College of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Massachusetts Amherst or his designee; the director of the state laboratory institute or his designee; the state epidemiologist or his designee; and 4 members to be appointed by the governor, 1 of whom shall be a representative of the cape and islands Lyme disease task force, 1 of whom shall be a member of the Massachusetts chapter of the international Lyme and associated diseases society, and 2 members who shall be considered experts in the treatment or research of Lyme disease,  is hereby established for the purpose of making an investigation and study of Lyme disease including, but not limited to, a review of the costs and benefits associated with: (1) establishing a Massachusetts center for Lyme disease; (2) conducting a Lyme disease public health clinical screening study in high risk regions; (3) developing education materials and training resources for clinical providers and school health personnel for detecting signs and symptom of tick-borne illnesses in school-aged populations; and (4) statewide surveillance and testing for tick-borne diseases in ticks. Said commission shall report to the senate and house of representative the results of its investigation and study, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry its recommendations into effect, by filing the same with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, who shall forward the same to the joint committee on public health and the house and senate committees on ways and means by February 1, 2010.