N.B. neurologist at centre of disease investigation to change clinics; families demand answers
A New Brunswick neurologist who first categorized patients as having an unknown brain disease will soon stop working at the clinic created to treat them.
The Horizon Health Network confirms Dr. Alier Marrero’s last day at the Moncton Interdisciplinary Neurodegenerative Diseases (MIND) Clinic will be Aug. 1.
Horizon wouldn’t answer specific questions Thursday about the circumstances of Dr. Marrero’s departure from the Moncton Hospital’s MIND Clinic, aside from saying patients had the option of following him to Moncton’s Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre for continuing care at his primary practice.
In response to a request for comment, Dr. Marrero said he wasn’t authorized to comment without approval from the health authorities.
New Brunswick’s Department of Health didn’t respond to a request for comment on the subject.
“It’s a very important distinction that he’s not leaving, he was removed,” said Steve Ellis, the son of Roger Ellis, who was identified as being part of the cluster under investigation.
In an interview Thursday, Ellis said the physician was being “muzzled” by the provincial government.
“They’re not allowing him to speak and it’s been that way for quite some time,” said Ellis, who added his father will continue seeing Dr. Marrero as a patient.
“The choice of seeing a brand new neurologist who is going to start from scratch is not an option,” said Ellis. “Dr. Marrero knows our patients, knows our stories, has done the tests, has done the due diligence, and of course we’re going to follow him.”
“Yes, that means we’re going to lose access to supports and services offered at the MIND Clinic. But that’s the right thing to do for my father,” adds Ellis. “I’ve spoken with others who are going to do the same thing.”
In a statement, Horizon Health said ongoing followup treatments at the MIND Clinic would include “support from the interdisciplinary team consisting of two geriatricians, two neurologists, two registered nurses, a neuropsychologist, a social worker, a researcher, and associates in psychiatry, speech language pathology, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy.”
In March 2021, the New Brunswick government first confirmed it was investigating a cluster of unknown neurological disorders, with symptoms similar to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
An investigation last fall from CTV’s W5 made note of how the provincial government had begun distancing Dr. Marrero from inclusion in its ongoing investigation.
In February, a report from six neurologists – which didn’t include Dr. Marrero – concluded no such mystery illness existed within the province.
“This does not mean that these people are not seriously ill,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick’s chief medical officer of health, during a Feb. 24 news conference. “It means they are ill with a known neurological condition.”
The report detailed symptoms from 48 patients, which included sudden movements, hallucinations, memory loss, and behavioral changes.
Siblings Jill and Tim Beatty lost their father, Laurie, in 2019. They say the rapid decline of their father’s health only became more painful as they tried to learn more about why it was happening.
“We knew from the early onset that we weren’t going to get the support that we were initially looking for from the government, so that’s why we’ve banded together,” said Jill, referencing the families of other patients identified in the initial cluster. “Its not only just because we lost our father, we’re very much looking out for fellow New Brunswickers. We want people to be educated.”
The siblings have signed an open letter to the provincial government and health authorities for Dr. Marrero to be reinstated to the MIND Clinic.
“We’re not allowing them to put the genie back in the bottle and pretend this doesn’t exist,” said Tim.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.
1 killed, 3 injured including toddler, after Hwy. 417 crash in Ottawa
Ontario Provincial Police are responding to a fatal collision involving two vehicles on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end on Tuesday morning.