By Amy Robach, Kevin Monahan and Christina Caron
NBC News

LeROY, N.Y. -- The mystery illness now producing Tourette’s-like symptoms in a more than a dozen girls from upstate New York is also affecting a 36-year-old who is experiencing the same tics as the teens.

Nurse practitioner Marge Fitzsimmons, who has spent her whole life in LeRoy, N.Y., lives just a few miles from the school the teens attend.

“It started out with sudden head jerks in the middle of October,” Fitzsimmons told NBC News, the tics occasionally interfering with her ability to talk.

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Mystery illness: More girls develop Tourette's-like tics

Environmental activist Erin Brockovich has started her own investigation into the mysterious illness that’s caused symptoms of facial tics and verbal outbursts among teenagers in Le Roy, N.Y., in light of new evidence about a toxic chemical spill more than 40 years ago that caused water and ground contamination nearby.

She told USA TODAY on Thursday that after families of affected teens and other community members asked her to look into the Le Roy case, she has spent the past week studying federal and state reports of a 1970 train derailment that spilled cyanide and an industrial solvent called trichloroethene within 3 miles of the high school attended by the 12 girls who started reporting neurological symptoms last fall. Three other teens, including one boy, are reportedly experiencing similar symptoms.

A statement issued by the school district said “medical and environmental investigations have not uncovered any evidence that would link the neurological symptoms to anything in the environment or of an infectious nature.” An indoor-air-quality report and a mold report are posted on the school district’s website.

“When I read reports like this that the New York Department of Health and state agencies were well-aware of the spill and you don’t do water testing or vapor extraction tests, you don’t have an all-clear,” says Brockovich, of Los Angeles.

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Feb-05-2012

Four More Suspected Cases of Conversion Disorder in New York Town

There are four new cases of conversion disorder in LeRoy, that coming from the doctor treating some of the students from LeRoy High School who have a mysterious illness that mimics Tourettes. Dr. Laszlo Mechtler made that statement while appearing on a program this afternoon on News10NBc's affiliate in Buffalo. News10NBC is still waiting to hear more about these cases. They would join 15 other students and one adult who have come down with vocal and physical tics. These cases have propelled LeRoy into the national spotlight and some local merchants say it's starting to have an impact on business and not in a positive way. For people who live and work in LeRoy, the news and the attention on their small town is non-stop and local merchants are becoming concerns. ^[1] Dr. Laszlo Mechtler made the statement on the 2 Sides show on Channel 2 Friday afternoon. Dr. Laszlo Mechtler: I can say as most of the other patients, they're girls, young girls, obviously in the early teens, similar symptoms, similar town, many of them know each other. Dr. Laszlo Mechtler: They are and I'm not sure if we know why. Dr. Laszlo Mechtler: Half of them are already getting significantly improved so it cannot be an environmental factor, a toxic factor in the brain. 'Then why are they improving number one? Number two, there are no toxins that would cause these symptoms. The TCE that's been brought up by the national media does not cause symptoms like this, it does not. This comes after a story yesterday from an adult in LeRoy dealing with conversion disorder. Marge Fitzsimmons story was featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams Thursday and says she suffers from the same symptoms as the teens. She is not associated with the students, but understands what the illness is like. ^[2]

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