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
Providing for continuing education in Lyme disease and related
tick-borne diseases for health care professionals.
The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
(1) In 2024, the Department of Health recorded 15,793
lab-confirmed cases of Lyme disease in this Commonwealth.
(2) Research from the United States Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention suggests that these numbers are
undercounted by a factor of 10, meaning as many as 157,000
cases of Lyme disease may have occurred in this Commonwealth
in 2024.
(3) The Department of Environmental Protection published
a study in 2015 that confirmed a high risk of Lyme disease in
every county of this Commonwealth and found all 67 counties
had the blacklegged tick.
(4) The early clinical diagnosis and appropriate
treatment of these tick-borne disorders and diseases can
greatly reduce the risks of continued, diverse and chronic
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17 symptoms that can affect every system and organ of the human
body and often every aspect of an individual's life.
(5) Residents of this Commonwealth should be aware of
early disseminated and persistent symptoms and should know
that a negative Lyme test cannot rule out Lyme disease.
(6) Scientific understanding of these complex tick-borne
illnesses is expected to evolve rapidly in the next decade,
including diagnosis and treatment options.
(7) The high burden of tick-borne diseases in this
Commonwealth requires an urgent and ongoing response. Health
care practitioner education is a specific strategy
recommended.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Lyme Disease
and Related Tick-Borne Disease Continuing Education Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Licensee." A physician, physician assistant or nurse
practitioner.
"Licensing board." The State Board of Medicine, the State
Board of Osteopathic Medicine or the State Board of Nursing.
"Lyme disease." Signs or symptoms compatible with acute,
late-stage, persistent infection with Borrelia burgdorferi or
complications related to the infection or with other strains of
Borrelia, including B. miyamotoi, B. mayonii, B. garinii and B.
afzelii, that are recognized by the United States Centers for
20250SB0329PN0298 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30 Disease Control and Prevention as a cause of Lyme disease. The
term includes infection that meets the surveillance criteria
established by the United States Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and other acute and persistent manifestations of the
infection as determined by a health care practitioner.
"Related tick-borne disease." The presence of signs or
symptoms compatible with infection with bartonella,
babesiosis/piroplasmosis, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, Rocky
Mountain spotted fever, rickettsiosis, Powassan or other tick-
transmissible illness or complications related to the
infections. The term does not include Lyme disease.
Section 3. Continuing education requirement.
(a) License renewal.--A licensing board shall require that a
licensee complete at least two hours of continuing education in
the assessment and diagnosis of and treatment options for Lyme
disease and other related tick-borne diseases as a portion of
the total continuing education required for license renewal.
(b) Content.--A licensing board shall establish the content
of continuing medical education required under this section. The
content shall address, at a minimum, the most current, evidence-
based research on tick data and pathogens Statewide, patient
profile and symptom presentation in regards to assessment and
diagnosis, current diagnostic options and current treatment
options and prevention.
(c) Input.--In establishing the content required for
continuing medical education required under this section, the
licensing board shall seek input from persons with knowledge
about Lyme disease or related tick-borne diseases, including
universities involved in the research of Lyme disease and
related tick-borne diseases. To ensure quality and balanced
20250SB0329PN0298 - 3 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30 medical education, the licensing board shall consider the
philosophies of the United States Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, the guidelines established by the National
Institutes of Health, the International Lyme and Associated
Diseases Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America,
as well as the latest scientific evidence and research.
Section 4. Construction.
Nothing in this act shall be construed to provide treatment
recommendations for Lyme disease or related tick-borne disease.
Section 5. Regulations.
Not later than 18 months after the effective date of this
section, the licensing board shall promulgate regulations
necessary to effectuate this act.
Section 6. Effective date.
This act shall take effect immediately.
20250SB0329PN0298 - 4 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15