Two MLAs from neighbouring provinces are calling for a joint public health investigation into the “troubling surge in patients presenting with an atypical neurodegenerative illness” in the region.
Memramcook-Tantramar MLA (and now candidate for Tantramar) Megan Mitton has long called for the New Brunswick government to look into what has caused the health issues faced by hundreds of patients referred to Moncton-based neurologist Dr. Alier Marrero. And now Nova Scotia MLA Elizabeth Smith-MCrossin has joined Mitton in a call for the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to lead an investigation into the cases.
“We have constituents on both sides of the border that are being impacted,” said Mitton on Tuesday. “PHAC has said, well, this is New Brunswick jurisdiction, so we’re letting them lead. But this is cross-jurisdictional. This is happening in Nova Scotia as well. And so we’re calling on PHAC to step in and lead this investigation, and look in both provinces—and there may be others as well—to see what’s going on.”
Smith-McCrossin says she has reached out to Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer Dr. Robert Strang, and is hoping both provincial public health offices will collaborate on the issue.
“I’m worried that our provincial medical officer of health may not be fully aware of the situation,” says Smith-McCrossin, “because our patients are being seen next door.” Some Nova Scotians live closer to Moncton than they do Halifax, and so referrals are sometimes made to New Brunswick specialists.
“I’m asking our two provinces to work together,” said the independant MLA, “to make sure that we have a full view, an accurate picture of what’s going on.”
Investigative reporting on the mysterious neurological conditions found that $5 million in federal research funding was in the process of being fast-tracked when New Brunswick asked for a pause on that process in 2021. Mitton is hoping those resources are still available, and that the federal health agency will take the lead.
“We’ve seen the provincial government in New Brunswick refuse to lead on this,” said Mitton earlier this week, “and so I don’t have confidence that they can do what needs to be done.”
The New Brunswick Department of Health says that it is waiting on formal reports concerning patients with unexplained neurological symptoms from Dr. Alier Marerro.
Marrero told Times and Transcript reporter Sarah Seeley in June that he has seen ”more than 320 patients in six provinces with atypical neurological symptoms.” Marrero also described an overly cumbersome reporting system which has hampered the number of files he has passed on to New Brunswick Public Health.
