Province has missed another deadline to present report on findings on atypical neurological symptoms<\/p>\n
Published Dec 20, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 2\u00a0days ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 5 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n The province has missed another deadline to present a report of its investigation into atypical neurological symptoms among New Brunswick patients \u2013 the so-called \u201cmystery disease.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the e-Edition, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalism and the next generation of journalists.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the e-Edition, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalism and the next generation of journalists.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to keep reading.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite journalists.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authors<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n In a news release Friday afternoon, the office of the chief medical officer of health said it will release the final report of its investigation into cases of undiagnosed neurological illness in January.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the second time this year the province has delayed the report presentation.<\/p>\n In March, chief medical officer Dr. Yves L\u00e9ger\u00a0announced his office had received enough patient data to conduct a probe in collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).<\/p>\n The investigation of 222 patients, L\u00e9ger said, would address concerns raised by neurologist Dr. Alier Marrero of elevated levels of heavy metals and pesticides, such as glyphosate, metabolites, and glufosinate in those with unexplained neurological symptoms.<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n L\u00e9ger\u2019s office said in May it had completed its initial data analysis and submitted the results to PHAC for scientific review and that the report would be presented in the summer, but in early September it was pushed to December.<\/p>\n The reason for the delay given in September was because L\u00e9ger\u2019s office had asked PHAC conduct a review of all the data collected as part of this investigation in accordance with a request from patient representatives. Additionally, L\u00e9ger\u2019s office was going to ensure formal data-sharing agreement \u2013 including consent from individual patients \u2013 was in place before his office shared data with the federal agency.<\/p>\n In Friday\u2019s news release, no clear reasons were given for the report being pushed to the new year.<\/p>\n Morning Email Telegraph-Journal<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n L\u00e9ger said in the release the work has involved significant collaboration with PHAC and other partners, and that his office has been working to ensure feedback from the various groups is included.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know New Brunswickers are eager to see the results of this work, which is why we are advising today that the release will happen in January 2026. The work is nearing completion, but it will take a little longer to finalize,\u201d L\u00e9ger said.<\/p>\n When asked for more details about the reason for the delay, the Department of Health used a statement from Friday\u2019s press release.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health continues to work hard to ensure that feedback from its partners is properly considered and incorporated into the work on the report,\u201d said spokesperson Sean Hatchard in an email.\u00a0<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n PHAC spokesperson Anna Maddison said in an email the federal health agency began a scientific review of the L\u00e9ger\u2019s office\u2019s analysis of the available data related to undiagnosed neurological illness beginning in June. 4<\/p>\n The review was conducted by federal experts from PHAC and Health Canada, including scientists, epidemiologists, and medical advisors with relevant subject-matter knowledge and expertise in public health investigations.<\/p>\n \u201cPHAC has provided its feedback to the NB OCMOH and, as per the jurisdiction\u2019s recent news release, publication of the report is anticipated in January 2026,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In August PHAC also agreed at the request of the province to undertake an independent review of the available data, including the data L\u00e9ger\u2019s office analyzed and other data collected in the course of New Brunswick\u2019s investigation. This is distinct from the investigation being taken on by the province.<\/p>\n Advertisement 6<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cIn the interest of protecting individual privacy, a formal data sharing agreement, including individual consent, will need to be in place before any of the NB data can be shared with PHAC. This work, led by NB OCMOH, is underway,\u201d said Maddison.<\/p>\n \u201cTimelines for PHAC\u2019s review of the available data will depend on the time required for NB OCMOH to obtain the individual consents and formalize the data sharing agreement necessary to permit the sharing of the data.\u201d<\/p>\n PHAC deferred the newspaper\u2019s questions about delays in the report presentation to the province.<\/p>\n Sarah Nesbitt, one of Marrero\u2019s patients who also serves as a liaison for patients, told Brunswick News the report being pushed is disappointing, but will allow patients to enjoy the Christmas season with their families and friends.<\/p>\n Advertisement 7<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a relief because the closer we get to the end of December, the more anxious patients become, and it\u2019s the holidays they should be enjoying time with their loved ones. (For) some of them, it might be their last Christmas with their loved ones,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Reflecting on the past year, Nesbitt said there have been some improvements in patients\u2019 relationship to government, such as additional communication with the province, meetings with the premier, the health minister and his staff, as well as the province\u2019s decision to send over the complete data to PHAC for review.<\/p>\n Brunswick News reported in July that Marrero had suggested much of the data he submitted was not properly analyzed before being sent to Ottawa or reduced to \u201cvirtually uninterpretable results\u201d of MRIs, electroencephalograms, and various other types of scans.<\/p>\n Advertisement 8<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Marrero had also said all the neurological autoimmune antibodies were excluded, most of the heavy metal test results were not analyzed, and all the consulted specialists\u2019 reviews of alternative diagnosis were left out.<\/p>\n Patient consent was another important aspect and Nesbitt noted patients have received letters giving them the option to withdraw consent for their data to be used in the investigation.<\/p>\n However, Nesbitt said patients are still looking for access to more resources and support and they continue to see delays in the investigation with no insights on what is making them ill.<\/p>\n \u201cThey still have no answers. They still have no treatments,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In the most recent provincial election in 2024, Susan Holt\u2019s Liberals promised to reopen the\u00a0investigation. After taking office, the Holt government initiated the process of an environmental review to look into Marrero\u2019s concerns.<\/p>\n Advertisement 9<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Earlier this year, a peer-reviewed scientific journal debunked the existence of the mystery disease, presenting alternative diagnoses for patients and recommending those treated by Marrero seek a second opinion.<\/p>\n That study reached the same conclusion as a 2022 cross disciplinary provincial\u00a0investigation\u00a0of 48 patients, which determined a mystery disease did not exist and the subjects did not suffer from a common illness.<\/p>\n Nesbitt said many patients continue to have hope in the province\u2019s investigation and what information the report will bring, but there is a lingering mistrust and fear of a repeat of findings from the previous probe.<\/p>\n She is still holding on to faith that\u00a0answers will come on what is causing the unexplained symptoms and work will be done to prevent other New Brunswickers from getting sick.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just in the waiting game to find out what happens and what do we do about it,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want to save lives\u2026 The longer this drags out, the more people are dying.\u201d<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links New BrunswickThe IssuesHealth care Province has missed another deadline to present report on findings on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":{"0":"post-362105","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1219-tt-mystery-disease.jpg\")
Dr. Yves Leger, the province’s chief medical officer is shown in a file photo. Leger’s office said in a news release on Friday that a report of findings from an investigation into atypical neurological symptoms will be delayed until January. BRUNSWICK NEWS ARCHIVESArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Telegraph-Journal\"](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.2.3\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tj.svg\"){kind=logo}
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