Patients and families struggling with symptoms of a neurodegenerative illness are calling for a new investigation into potential environmental causes of the condition.<\/p>\n
Their demands come 13 months after the province announced that the \u201cneurological syndrome of unknown cause\u201d doesn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n
The provincial Green Party held a news conference on Tuesday alongside people affected by the condition.<\/p>\n
There are now 147 people \u201cdemonstrating a rapid onset of severe neurological symptoms,\u201d according to the group. They said more than a third of those patients are under 45 years old. Medical testing has shown that many of the patients were exposed to \u201cmultiple environmental toxins,\u201d said Stacie Quigley Cormier, whose stepdaughter is among the patients.<\/p>\n
In particular, she pointed to the herbicide glyphosate, which is widely used in forestry and agriculture.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to confirm that in recent months, patients have tested positive for multiple environmental toxins, including glyphosate, with detectable levels between four and 40 times the average limit,\u201d she told reporters.<\/p>\n
Few details were immediately available, but she said \u201cmany patients have been tested.\u201d Her stepdaughter, former Mount Allison University student Gabrielle Cormier, is one of the youngest patients affected by what officials previously called a neurological syndrome of unknown cause<\/a>.<\/p>\n Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton, the Green Party\u2019s health critic, said the province must \u201cremove all barriers\u201d and allow federal health officials to investigate. The group also called for federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos to \u201cunmuzzle federal scientists\u201d and launch an investigation with federal experts.<\/p>\n They also accused the provincial and federal governments of \u201cmisrepresenting\u201d their patient files in order to \u201cabandon a public health inquiry.\u201d<\/p>\n Later on Tuesday, Mitton raised the issue in the Legislative Assembly during Question Period, as patients and family members gathered in the visitor\u2019s gallery. Mitton cited a letter from Dr. Alier Marrero, the neurologist who first identified the contentious cluster.<\/p>\n \u201cOn January 30, Dr. Marrero once again raised his concerns about the unexpectedly high number of early onset or young onset progressive neurological syndromes in New Brunswick,\u201d Mitton said.<\/p>\n \u201cWill the Minister of Health get out of the way and allow the Public Health Agency of Canada to launch an investigation?\u201d<\/p>\n Minister of Health Bruce Fitch said the department had received Marrero\u2019s letter but denied \u201cstanding in the way\u201d of an investigation.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a high degree of cooperation between New Brunswick Public Health and the Public Health Agency of Canada,\u201d he said, and the federal agency \u201csupported the results of the provincial investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is why the further investigation stopped, because the Public Health Agency of Canada agreed with the findings that were found here in the Province of New Brunswick.\u201d<\/p>\n In response to a query from CHMA, the federal agency provided an emailed statement saying that it \u201cprovided support as requested by New Brunswick, throughout the investigation, until its conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n The federal health agency also \u201cacknowledged the investigation\u2019s findings that this cluster does not represent a neurological syndrome of unknown cause.\u201d<\/p>\n