It was last summer that Roger Ellis of Bathurst, N.B., received a letter confirming he was one of dozens of New Brunswickers affected by a mysterious neurological disease.
But recently, he received another letter from the provincial oversight committee studying the cases. It stated that after reviewing his records — he does not have an ‘unknown neurological condition.’
“Reading this letter with my father’s name, it really became real, that the government is abandoning him, and they’re not following their due diligence as Public Health officials,” says his son, Steve Ellis.
“This oversight committee hasn’t seen my father — they haven’t done any additional testing, they’ve simply looked over his medical chart.”
However, the Ellis family is not the only one to receive such a letter.
The family of Gabrielle Cormier of Dalhousie, N.B., who was diagnosed with the unknown syndrome at age 20, has also received one.
Her stepmother, Stacie Quigley Cormier, says that reading the letter brought about a mix of emotions, but the major one was a sense of confusion.
“Because Gabrielle has gone through rigorous testing, and they’ve not been able to find out what she has,” says Quigley Cormier.
“So in that alone is unknown, the fact that she did not have a diagnosis.”
The unknown syndrome was initially connected to a cluster of 48 people between early 2020 and May 2021.
At that time, patients and their families were told it was a mystery — but in October of last year, the provincial government said autopsies of those who had died pointed to other causes.
A clinical review committee made up of six neurologists was then tasked to review each patient’s clinical history and diagnosis.
The patients and their families are now waiting for the results of a clinical review, and CTV News has been told by the province that it’s expected to come out by the end of this month.
