“Lyme Literate” Martin D. Fried: Felony Drug Conviction

Martin D. Fried is a doctor in Ocean, NJ known for being a “Lyme literate medical doctor (LLMD)”. In 2019, Fried admitted to violating federal law by intentionally and illegally attempting to distribute and dispense the opioid drug oxycodone.

Fried pled guilty to one felony count and was sentenced to five years probation, six months home detention, a $5,500 fine, and a $100 special assessment. He was also required to undergo mental health treatment, provide financial disclosures, and not take on new debts.

Police had arrested Fried and two of his patients outside a Walgreens in 2018.

After the arrest, regulators in New York and Pennsylvania suspended Martin Fried’s licenses to practice medicine. Fried relinquished his New Jersey medical license.

Even though Fried specialized in pediatric gastroenterology, his beliefs have contradicted mainstream science organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics, which states:

“Chronic Lyme disease” is not a medical diagnosis.

Fried’s promoted the idea of “Gastrointestinal Lyme”, even though gastrointestinal symptoms are not listed by the CDC or other mainstream medical organizations as symptoms of Lyme disease.

An article on so-called “Gastrointestinal Lyme” by Fried was published in the “Lyme Times”, a publication of the pseudoscience group LymeDisease.org. In the article, he asserted without evidence that Bartonella, mycoplasma, and H. pylori are coinfections of Lyme disease.

The CDC states that bartonella and mycoplasma “have not been shown to be tickborne.” LymeScience could find no credible evidence to support Lyme-H. Pylori coinfection.

Victims of chronic Lyme quackery are frequently diagnosed with multiple fake infections. One popular fake coinfection is chronic Bartonella. A survey by the quackery-promoting LymeDisease.org of so-called Chronic Lyme patients found 54% thought they had a Bartonella coinfection.

Martin Fried was an early promoter of the belief in chronic Lyme-Bartonella coinfection. He also promoted the idea that rashes that look like common, harmless stretch marks are evidence of a Bartonella infection.

The strange belief that stretch marks are Bartonella-borne was refuted by scientists in the Department of Dermatology at Johns Hopkins University in 2018. The belief has caused patients—including children—to receive unnecessary antimicrobial drugs.

Martin Fried admits receiving at least $23,000 from the Lyme Disease Association, a known pseudoscience group. Fried is also a Lyme Disease Association conference speaker.

Local news site More Monmouth Musings reported that Fried was pursuing comedy, but “his comedy is pretty bad.”