New Brunswick not going far enough in reviewing mystery illness cases, family says

New Brunswick's chief medical officer says the government will begin analyzing data into a mystery brain disease that has affected hundreds of people in the last several years.

It’s been a long road for siblings Tim and Jill Beatty, whose father died in 2019 after developing symptoms of an unknown neurological illness.

The family was part of New Brunswick’s first investigation into a potential mystery illness that has affected hundreds of people in the last several years.

Under the previous Progressive Conservative government, the province began investigating 48 patients with neurological symptoms — such as pain, seizures, confusion and muscle spasms — in 2021.

But the Blaine Higgs government said in 2022 that it found no evidence of a common illness and ended the investigation.

“First time around this brought us absolutely nothing,” Jill Beatty said.

Since then, more than 400 people have reported symptoms.

The Liberals promised during last year’s election campaign to reopen the investigation. The province’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Yves Léger, told reporters Thursday that his office will now review 222 files with the Public Health Agency of Canada.

But the Beatty siblings aren’t optimistic — especially since Léger is heading part of the review.