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Ep89 Kris Newby

About My Guest:

  • Kris Newby is an award-winning science writer at Stanford University and the senior producer of the Lyme disease documentary, Under Our Skin, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was a 2010 Oscar semifinalist. 
  • She has two degrees in engineering, a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and a Master’s degree from Stanford University. 
  • Previously, Newby was a technology writer for Apple and other Silicon Valley companies. She lives in Palo Alto.
  • And now…my interview with Kris Newby.

Key Takeaways:

  • Her husband and she both have a personal fight against Lyme after contracting Lyme Disease after a vacation to Martha’s Vineyard
  • Her journey down the “rabbit hole” of Lyme as she researched and filmed Under Our skin. 
  •  Lyme disease is often worse for children because of their maturing neurological systems. 
  • Lyme disease can remain dormant for years.
  • It was pretty clear when filming Under Our Skin the documentary that we couldn’t get funding if we went down the route of “conspiracy theories.” 
  • Willie Burderofi  “The NIH knows that this Lyme disease thing is chronic, that it can sometimes remain dormant for 5, 10 or 15 years and it is worse in children.” 
  • “The symptoms in the filed DON’T match what is in the medical literature, something is going on.”
  • I didn’t tell you everything…
  • Lyme research is a shameful affair. All of the money is going to people who know beforehand what the results of the experiments will be before they are done.
  • “It took $60,000, 10 doctors and 1 year to find a diagnosis”
  • The diagnostic barrier-what it takes to get a diagnosis is unacceptable.
  • No one has done a good study on the cost of the disease. Really the lost income because I was completely disabled, is hundreds of thousands of dollars, and who can do that? So many of these people are permanently disabled.” 
  • “I felt like something was sucking the life out of me.”-Sarah Schlichte Sanchez 
  • “No one was going to follow this story to the end.” -Kris Newby
  • “No label=No disability”
  • 29 cents a death
  • Heavy silence
  • “You are trying to keep your mind focused, but you realize what an evil program it was.”
  • Anyone who has been through Lyme treatment realizes that treatment is often worse than the disease.
  • The medical goldrush-Their isn’t money in the cure for tick-borne illnesses.
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield reported that their most expensive illness was AIDS, with Lyme disease being the 2nd most expensive illness.
  • 1968 outbreak-This is an unnatural vector.

Connect With My Guest:

Resources Mentioned:

  • Under The Eight Ball documentary.

Links:

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