Nation Tests for Lyme disease don’t work well enough to diagnose illness early, federal panel says November 16, 2018 Jerry Carino, Asbury Park Press Comments Off on Tests for Lyme disease don’t work well enough to diagnose illness early, federal panel says 'Hopefully, it breaks this gridlock that we have on Lyme disease,' said Pat Smith, a member of the panel and founder of the Lyme Disease Association.