An advocacy group is voicing concerns over the lack of transparency in the investigation of a mysterious neurological syndrome in New Brunswick.
BloodWatch.org sent a letter to the federal minister of Health Patty Hajdu and her provincial counterpart Dorothy Shephard with concerns and suggestions for the investigation.
“The lack of transparency regarding this public health crisis is troubling,” reads the letter signed by the organization’s co-founder Kat Lanteigne.
Demands include the presence of experienced federal scientists that can aid New Brunswick and a patient representative that will participate in the investigation.
“We’ve had high a level reports and were very concerned as to why the public health agency of Canada is currently not actively working on this file to find a root cause,” said Lanteigne.
Lanteigne said recent reports the organization received set off an alarm bell.
“We’re also very concerned because we received reports that individuals impacted some of their family members have been asked to sign non-disclosure agreements.”
In April, Public Health began collecting consent and contact information from those impacted by the investigation to begin distributing an investigative survey.
The co-founder of BloodWatch.org wants to see the illness that has affected at least 48 individuals treated as a public health crisis, not an internal matter.
In addition, Lanteigne questioned why a committee was not assembled to participate in the investigation similar to New Brunswick’s all-party COVID-19 committee, created in the early stages of the pandemic.
“We are very shocked that there is not an all-party legislative committee being briefed and included in these conversations.”
Lanteigne said with six fatalities related to the syndrome, progress must be made quickly.
