"The rash had been misdiagnosed, so Alec Plotkin had no warning when he collapsed while walking his dog in West Chester, Pa., as his heart rate fell to just 30 beats per minute.

Plotkin, then 39, had Lyme carditis, one of the most severe symptoms of the tick-borne disease.

The entire episode, plus the week in the intensive care unit to recover in 2005, could have been avoided if a Lyme disease vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1998 had remained on the market for more than just three years."

Ariel Wittenberg reports for E&E News September 14, 2022. [2]