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This series - testament to the power of a small newspaper, the Internet and analytical reporting -- is viewed widely as an influential force and agenda setter for Lyme disease nationwide. In eight installments in 2012, No Small Thing delineated problems of testing for and treatment and tracking of Lyme disease. In 2013, the newspaper, using 3,000 pages of government emails obtained under FOIA, exposed ties between government officials and outside scientists that influenced Lyme policy and limited debate - the installment submitted here. In 2013, the series also reported evidence that physicians are rejecting controversial guidelines, documented the death toll from Lyme disease using a database of deaths covering 13 years and drove a watershed year in the endemic. In 2013, the CDC revised contested annual case counts tenfold; investigated long-ignored deaths, and invited reform advocates to an unprecedented, high-level meeting. Three Lyme-related bills are pending in New York, where a task force has been convened. Another is pending in Congress.