Prosecutors for the N.C. Medical Board launched an aggressive case today against Dr. James Jemsek, a Lyme disease specialist. The board accuses the doctor of recklessly hurting patients by pumping them full of massive doses of antibiotic for months or years to treat a disease many did not actually have.

The medical board seeks to stop Jemesk from practicing medicine, or limiting his ability to treat patients for tick-borne Lyme disease. Jemsek, 56, argues that his treatment is a lifesaver, that diagnostic tests often don't detect Lyme and, and that the standard treatment is inadequate for advanced cases.

Today was the first day in a public hearing expected to last through Thursday. Much of the day's testimony supported the medical board's case against Jemsek, who practices in Huntersville, 15 miles north of Charlotte.

One former patient, Heather Jenkins, of Huntersville, testified that Jemsek diagnosed her with Lyme disease and kept her on daily intravenous antibiotics for a year and five months, even as she failed to get better and developed infection after infection around the IV port implanted in her arm. She said she was never told that Jemsek's methods veered from accepted standards of care.

Jenkins, a wife and mother of three, stopped treatment after she developed a septic infection that put her in a hospital intensive care unit for days. Jenkins said the hospital did a test that showed she did not have Lyme. She never went back to Jemsek.

"He almost killed me," said Jenkins, 32, her voice breaking. "i am not a rat to be tested. I'm a human being. i have a life. i have a family."

Staff writer Jean Fisher can be reached at 829-4753 or jfisher@newsobserver.com