Last fall, teen girls at LeRoy High School in upstate NY suddenly started exhibiting Tourette's-like symptoms. For months, NY State health officials could find no direct cause for why the teens developed the spasms and tics, with some doctors insisting it was "mass hysteria." But now, doctors say that several of the teens are showing signs of recovery: "The media focus, the questions on whether it is environmental or toxins, all that adds confusion, anxiety and difficulty," said Dr. Laszlo Mechtler, medical director at DENT Neurologic Institute in western NY, who has treated some of the teens with psychotherapy and behavioral therapy, as well as prescribed medication for anti-anxiety, depression and headaches.
According to Mechtler, out of the 19 teens who exhibited the tics, three say they have completely recovered and six say they are significantly better. A second doctor from New Jersey, Dr. Rosario Trifiletti, diagnosed some of the patients with PANDAS—Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections—and has been treating them with antibiotics. The State Department of Health had previously ruled that diagnosis out, but psychiatrist Dr. John Sharp noted: "Maybe they're getting the right care, they're getting some kind of I.V., something to treat their infectious exposure. But it also could be placebo, it could be something that's helping them, a kind-of face saving way out, while their emotional issues are being addressed."
Other doctors still insist that most of the teens are affected with conversion disorder, with stress their root problem: "What happens is there is traditionally some kind of stress or multiple stressors that provoke a physical reaction within the body," said Dr. Jennifer McVige, a neurologist who has evaluated several of the teens. "This is unconscious, it is not done purposefully and it's almost like...the stress wells up in your body has to come out in some way shape or form."
The strange case attracted the attention of crusading activist Erin Brockovich, the single mom who attributed cases of cancer to Pacific Energy & Gas's toxic dumping in California and was portrayed by Julia Roberts in the Oscar-winning movie. In a statement released this week, Brockovich said she is still investigating a plume from a 1970 train derailment in LeRoy, which dumped cyanide and trichloroethylene (TCE)—a chlorinated hydrocarbon used to de-grease metal parts—within three miles of the village's high school.
Despite initial reports from an associate of hers that the contamination hadn't reached the school, she said: "In fact, it appears the number of people in the area displaying alarming health issues that can be caused by TCE is growing. It took the EPA 40 years to investigate the contamination from the train derailment and it will take us more than 40 days to get to the root of the problem in LeRoy. I want to further stress that we have not ruled out the TCE plume from the train derailment as a source of contamination at LeRoy High School."
