What's making New Brunswickers sick? Premier Susan Holt intends to find out

Premier Susan Holt says it's captious the state propulsion up with its probe into what's making immoderate New Brunswickers sick, contempt a caller technological survey that recovered nary grounds of a enigma encephalon disease.

"There's excessively galore unanswered questions for america to halt the enactment that Public Health is doing to beryllium capable to supply patients — and perchance aboriginal patients — with the accusation they request astir what's causing these illnesses," Holt told reporters Thursday successful Fredericton during her play update connected U.S. tariffs.

She was responding to questions astir a report, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, known arsenic JAMA.

Thirteen Canadian doctors and researchers reassessed 25 of the 222 patients diagnosed by Moncton neurologist Dr. Alier Marrero arsenic having a "neurological syndrome of chartless cause."

They concluded each of the cases — 14 surviving and 11 who person died — were attributable to well-known conditions, specified as Alzheimer's traumatic encephalon wounded and cancer.

WATCH | 'There mightiness not beryllium 1 answer, determination mightiness beryllium aggregate things astatine play here,' Holt says: 

Their investigation of the patients also provides "strong grounds against a communal origin of the patients' conditions, specified arsenic vulnerability to an biology toxin," due to the fact that of the wide scope of problems, they wrote.

The work the state is doing "remains critical," Holt said.

"We request to enactment with the patients and the colonisation of New Brunswick to reply the question astir what is making New Brunswickers sick," she said.

"The survey didn't reply that question."

Government study owed this summer

In March, the New Brunswick authorities launched the "data investigation phase" of its investigation into undiagnosed neurological symptoms that Marrero says are present affecting immoderate 500 people successful 7 provinces. The probe volition see whether biology substances, such as the herbicide glyphosate oregon dense metals, are a factor.

"It is anticipated the results of the investigation volition soon beryllium shared with the Public Health Agency of Canada," Dr. Yves Léger, New Brunswick's main aesculapian serviceman of health, said successful an email.

A public study with recommendations is expected this summer.

"I deliberation that the enactment that Public Health is doing and the enactment we're getting from the Public Health Agency of Canada is captious for america to proceed to effort to reply those questions for New Brunswickers, knowing that there mightiness not beryllium one answer," Holt said.

"There whitethorn beryllium aggregate things that are astatine play present successful antithetic areas of the state and successful antithetic situations."

The premier did not accidental whether the state volition assistance Marrero's hundreds of different patients to get a 2nd opinion, arsenic the survey urges.

In an emailed statement, New Brunswick Medical Society president Dr. Lise Babin said, "We spot that the process that has precocious been enactment successful spot by Public Health New Brunswick volition see each applicable probe and information related to this ongoing issue."

Babin said she could not remark connected the "details oregon merits of circumstantial aesculapian oregon technological articles."

Holt pledged past summertime to motorboat a transparent technological probe if elected successful the October provincial election.

New Brunswickers suffering from unexplained symptoms and the doctors trying to assistance them had "been ignored" by the Blaine Higgs authorities "for acold excessively long," she said successful a connection astatine the time.

"New Brunswickers merit answers."