I am sure many of you have noticed the story about the 12
teenage girls in Leroy, New York who all have been having tic-
like symptoms. According to the news, this started out of the
blue with all of the 12 girls. This news story has been going on
for over two months and most recently hit the national news. I
will be honest with you that there needs to be more discussion
about Tourette Syndrome (TS), but I am not sure if this news
item is really doing those who struggle with Tourette Syndrome
any justice. The news sensationalism is starting to sound like
the Salem witchcraft hunt. I have seen videos of some of the
girls and it does appear that they are having both movement and
vocal tics. According to the news there has been intensive
investigations into this situation and it has been determined
that they have not identified any specific environmental factors
that may have triggered the phenomenon. I think the CDC is also
involved in the investigations. Over the last two months the
diagnosis has been referred