SB 329 — An Act providing for continuing education in Lyme disease and related tick-borne diseases for health care professionals.

PRINTER'S NO.   298

                    THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                       SENATE BILL
                       No. 329
                                               Session of
                                                 2025

     INTRODUCED BY BROOKS, J. WARD, COLLETT, ROBINSON, KANE, COSTA
        AND COMITTA, FEBRUARY 28, 2025

     REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION AND PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE,
        FEBRUARY 28, 2025


                                    AN ACT
 1   Providing for continuing education in Lyme disease and related
 2      tick-borne diseases for health care professionals.
 3      The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
 4          (1)    In 2024, the Department of Health recorded 15,793
 5      lab-confirmed cases of Lyme disease in this Commonwealth.
 6          (2)    Research from the United States Centers for Disease
 7      Control and Prevention suggests that these numbers are
 8      undercounted by a factor of 10, meaning as many as 157,000
 9      cases of Lyme disease may have occurred in this Commonwealth
10      in 2024.
11          (3)    The Department of Environmental Protection published
12      a study in 2015 that confirmed a high risk of Lyme disease in
13      every county of this Commonwealth and found all 67 counties
14      had the blacklegged tick.
15          (4)    The early clinical diagnosis and appropriate
16      treatment of these tick-borne disorders and diseases can
17      greatly reduce the risks of continued, diverse and chronic
 1      symptoms that can affect every system and organ of the human
 2      body and often every aspect of an individual's life.
 3          (5)   Residents of this Commonwealth should be aware of
 4      early disseminated and persistent symptoms and should know
 5      that a negative Lyme test cannot rule out Lyme disease.
 6          (6)   Scientific understanding of these complex tick-borne
 7      illnesses is expected to evolve rapidly in the next decade,
 8      including diagnosis and treatment options.
 9          (7)   The high burden of tick-borne diseases in this
10      Commonwealth requires an urgent and ongoing response. Health
11      care practitioner education is a specific strategy
12      recommended.
13      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
14   hereby enacts as follows:
15   Section 1.   Short title.
16      This act shall be known and may be cited as the Lyme Disease
17   and Related Tick-Borne Disease Continuing Education Act.
18   Section 2.   Definitions.
19      The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
20   have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
21   context clearly indicates otherwise:
22      "Licensee."    A physician, physician assistant or nurse
23   practitioner.
24      "Licensing board."    The State Board of Medicine, the State
25   Board of Osteopathic Medicine or the State Board of Nursing.
26      "Lyme disease."    Signs or symptoms compatible with acute,
27   late-stage, persistent infection with Borrelia burgdorferi or
28   complications related to the infection or with other strains of
29   Borrelia, including B. miyamotoi, B. mayonii, B. garinii and B.
30   afzelii, that are recognized by the United States Centers for

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 1   Disease Control and Prevention as a cause of Lyme disease. The
 2   term includes infection that meets the surveillance criteria
 3   established by the United States Centers for Disease Control and
 4   Prevention and other acute and persistent manifestations of the
 5   infection as determined by a health care practitioner.
 6      "Related tick-borne disease."      The presence of signs or
 7   symptoms compatible with infection with bartonella,
 8   babesiosis/piroplasmosis, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, Rocky
 9   Mountain spotted fever, rickettsiosis, Powassan or other tick-
10   transmissible illness or complications related to the
11   infections. The term does not include Lyme disease.
12   Section 3.   Continuing education requirement.
13      (a)   License renewal.--A licensing board shall require that a
14   licensee complete at least two hours of continuing education in
15   the assessment and diagnosis of and treatment options for Lyme
16   disease and other related tick-borne diseases as a portion of
17   the total continuing education required for license renewal.
18      (b)   Content.--A licensing board shall establish the content
19   of continuing medical education required under this section. The
20   content shall address, at a minimum, the most current, evidence-
21   based research on tick data and pathogens Statewide, patient
22   profile and symptom presentation in regards to assessment and
23   diagnosis, current diagnostic options and current treatment
24   options and prevention.
25      (c)   Input.--In establishing the content required for
26   continuing medical education required under this section, the
27   licensing board shall seek input from persons with knowledge
28   about Lyme disease or related tick-borne diseases, including
29   universities involved in the research of Lyme disease and
30   related tick-borne diseases. To ensure quality and balanced

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 1   medical education, the licensing board shall consider the
 2   philosophies of the United States Centers for Disease Control
 3   and Prevention, the guidelines established by the National
 4   Institutes of Health, the International Lyme and Associated
 5   Diseases Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America,
 6   as well as the latest scientific evidence and research.
 7   Section 4.   Construction.
 8      Nothing in this act shall be construed to provide treatment
 9   recommendations for Lyme disease or related tick-borne disease.
10   Section 5.   Regulations.
11      Not later than 18 months after the effective date of this
12   section, the licensing board shall promulgate regulations
13   necessary to effectuate this act.
14   Section 6.   Effective date.
15      This act shall take effect immediately.




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