ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The state Health Department has secured an agreement with the National Institutes of Health for an examination of western New York high school students suffering from unexplained tics and verbal outbursts.
About 15 girls at Le Roy High School, about 25 miles southwest of Rochester, developed the ailment over the past few months. Doctors have diagnosed it as conversion disorder, once known as mass hysteria. But parents and students are unconvinced.
On Wednesday, the Health Department said NIH will provide the students with a free, independent third-party evaluation of their cases in Bethesda, Md.
The Health Department also announced that tests of water samples from the school turned up nothing unusual. A state lab tested the water at the school's request.
