After warning medical professionals to be on the lookout for a baffling neurological condition that produced memory loss, muscle wasting and severe cognitive decline, authorities in the Canadian province of New Brunswick have concluded that no such illness exists.
There is a possibility of a cluster of residents suffering from an unknown neurological syndrome, similar to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Some patients started drooling and others felt like bugs were crawling on their skin.
The province's oversight committee concluded that none of the 48 cases met the definition of an unknown brain syndrome and that the victims were probably suffering from known diseases.
The oversight committee unanimously agreed that these 48 people should never have been identified as having a neurological syndrome of unknown cause, and that based on the evidence reviewed, no such syndrome exists.
I stress again that this does not mean that these people aren't seriously ill. It means they have a neurological condition.
The conclusion of the province is unlikely to satisfy family members who have watched their loved ones rapidly decline. Families suspected the province was prepared to rule out a cluster after a previous report found no environmental exposures that linked the patients together.
Steve Ellis said that they did the opposite of hanging on to a piece of hope.
Ellis said he and other families met the health minister and chief medical officer before the report was released.
They did not answer any of our questions. He said it was political theatre at its worst. I didn't expect it to be so bad.
The provincial government sent letters to the families of those within the cluster suggesting they may have a yet-undiagnosed condition.
The report cast doubt on the work of Dr Alier Marrero, the doctor who first flagged the cluster and has treated most of the patients.
It’s a sham. It’s an absolute public health sham
The committee recommended that a second specialist review cases be used to determine if a patient has a new and unknown disease.
The Guardian has seen a letter sent last week by Marrero, in which he asked for help from Canada's chief public health officer and the chief medical officer.
Marrero had a large number of patients that he didn't have the resources to investigate. Marrero was concerned by how many young people were in the case.
The officials at Thursday's press conference denied that multiple households had more than one member with neurological symptoms. Marrero's letter warned of at least 12 households with multiple cases, raising concerns over potential human-to-human transmission or a possible common root cause of the suspected illness.
He wrote that he was concerned for his patients and for the general population.
The officials presenting the report misled the public about the scope of possible cases, and the report lacked scientific rigor, according to the executive director of Bloodwatch.
It is a sham. The executive director of Bloodwatch said it was an absolute public health sham. They have not been tested for neurotoxins. They did not run a control group. Their data is insufficient.
It is possible for patients to have diseases that are triggered by a common cause, according to experts.
Lanteigne told families to get legal counsel as they explore their options to hold both the government of NewBrunswick and the Public Health Agency of Canada accountable.
She said that the families need help.
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