THE NORTHERN TIMES - November 11, 2010 |
By Tanja Ingram-Paquette |
"The message the people of Kapuskasing gave to me and that I am passing on to you (minister), is the new treatment of Dr. Zamboni's. This is the only hope MS sufferers have had in a while," explained MPP Bisson. "I know there is controversy as to whether Dr. Zamboni's treatment is good or not, but people feel that the government is not stepping forward and being as proactive as they could be."
The issue stems from the experimental 'liberation procedure' which was created to treat a hypothetical condition (chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency) which prevents blood from properly draining from the brain.
The treatment was pioneered by Italian researcher Dr. Paulo Zamboni.
On a federal level, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) gave recommendations in September to the federal Minister of Health, Leona Aglukkaq. In a report, Dr. Alain Beaudet, president of the CIHR, said "at the meeting organized by CIHR and the MS Society of Canada, the scientific experts agreed that there is an overwhelming lack of scientific evidence that there is any link between abnormal venous drainage and MS."
The recommendations accepted by the Government of Canada were to establish a scientific working group to monitor and analyze preliminary and final results from seven studies that are currently underway; based on the outcome of those studies the working group should reach conclusions regarding the association (or lack thereof) between impaired drainage of blood from the brain and MS, a common standard for reliably diagnosing the condition using imaging and other techniques; and depending on the conclusions, the group will make recommendations on further studies, including, if appropriate, a pan-Canadian interventional clinical trial.
Jacinthe Laforge, a worker with the CCAC in Kapuskasing and a long-time volunteer with the MS Society, is happy that things are moving forward.
"We wanted to meet with MPP Bisson to see what we could do to push the government to approve clinical trials," said MS Laforge. "People with MS say it is worthwhile and they don't want to wait, they want clinical trials to start now. The next move is to make sure that anyone who agrees with the surgery and clinical trials lets their own MPP and MPs know so that we can get the ball rolling in parliament."
MPP Bisson's message to the minister was that the people want to Ontario government to put aside money so that if the study comes out and shows that in fact the surgery will benefit people, the money will be in place at that point to be able to go ahead and provide that service.
"This is a very important issue for people with MS as there has not been a lot of hope and this is a glimmer of hope," said Minister Matthews. "Having said that, we are watching the science on this very closely and we are committed to get people suffering from MS answers as quickly as possible, one way or another."
Minister Matthews added that if and when the science says yes it is time to take it to the next step, the government will be there.
MPP Bisson also approached the minister with the idea that some provinces are helping to offset the cost for patients to travel in order to get the surgery done elsewhere, he asked if Ontario was capable of providing a test program where patients can be monitored in their own country.
