FILE - Portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed the night before burn in East Palestine, Ohio, Feb. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

EAST PALESTINE — For two years, residents in East Palestine have maintained that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention instructed area medical providers not to test for chemical-related illnesses in the wake of the 2023 train derailment.

On Thursday, NewsNation reported it had obtained a copy of the clinical guidance letter sent to hospitals and providers from the CDC after the rail disaster that reads “in part” that “no testing or treatment related to a specific chemical exposure is recommended.” NewsNation did not release the full guidance letter or give any additional details regarding the letter’s content.

In June 2023, local health care providers denied ever receiving a recommendation against making a chemical-related diagnosis following the derailment. That denial was made during a public health session of the informational series facilitated by the Region 5 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the village.

The reported existence of such a letter and the alleged actions of the CDC — civil conspiracy claiming the CDC conspired with Mercy Health to deny plaintiff’s medical care thus exacerbating their injuries — is one of many charges laid out in a 86-page lawsuit that was filed in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas earlier this year on behalf of nearly 800 plaintiffs by Just Well Law.

Mercy Health is one of 52 defendants along with Norfolk Southern listed in the court documents. Other defendants include the Village of East Palestine, the East Palestine Police and Fire Departments, East Palestine City Schools, Columbiana Exempted Village School District, the Columbiana County General Health District and Columbiana County Board of Commissioners for allegedly failing in a duty to protect the public or warn of the known dangers the released chemicals presented.

The lawsuit charges that both school districts allegedly “failed to properly have their schools remediated following the aftermath of the derailment” and accuses the Columbiana County Health District of “misleading the residents to the side effects, symptoms, and other related health issues that were a direct and proximate result of the chemicals spilled.”

The suit also alleges claims of nuisance, strict liability, trespass, punitive damages, loss of consortium, Medicaid Subrogation and wrongful death — charging that Margie Mae Lewis, Margo Zuch, Randy Swogger, John R. Moore, Viola Noel, Edward Zins and Carlyn Tigelman all died from the aftermath of the derailment.

“Like Norfolk, the other Defendants, and the EPA and CDC, further chose to fail the community when they too chose to follow their own safety rules and regulations in the alleged clean-up of the community,” the lawsuit states. “They chose to fail in protecting the families who trusted them. The community is still contaminated, and people are still sick.”

The CDC and EPA are not listed as defendants in the lawsuit.