Canada is among the highest MS rates in the world and the procedure is not available in the country, so thus they are making trips to where the procedure can be done and lot of it in the US according to the article.  imageThere have not been any clinical trials and the reason stated was insufficient evidence. 

Interventional radiologists state that about one third are doing well and do benefit from the treatment and since there are no drugs for MS, it’s right up there on the top of the list for desired treatments.  Half of the patients in San Diego at the one facility are from Canada.  Canadian neurologists on the other hand are not happy about it either as they can’t offer it to patients.  In addition to the US, Canadian patients are also traveling to other countries. The article comments on one man who died who had the procedure and then blood clots formed around the stent and when he visited his Canadian doctors, he was given blood thinners to dissolve the clots instead of being able to adjust the stent and he passed away.  Canadian doctors are stating this is not ethical.  Below is a video from a patient from Canada and her experience.  She had her surgery done in India and comments on the surgeons taking phone calls on their cell phones during the procedure too.   She has noticed improvements, not earth shattering, but they are big for her with more strength than she had before and she should gain more as time moves along.  BD 

Liberation Therapy

American doctors are clamoring for Canadian multiple sclerosis patients who are travelling abroad for a controversial treatment they can't get at home, a U.S. neurologist says.

"Every IR (interventional radiologist) in every town is competing with each other, 'Who can see more Canadians?' " Dr. David Hubbard, head of the Hubbard Foundation in San Diego, said in an interview with Postmedia News Tuesday.

Canadians are travelling to Bulgaria, Poland, Mexico and other countries for the procedure known as "liberation therapy," which involves opening blocked veins in the neck.

U.S. specialists in competition for Canadian MS patients

1 comments :

  1. You Canadians started spreading the word on CCSVI more than year ago. Thank you. CCSVI treatment is increasingly available all over the States and it is patently unfair that you can't have it done north of the border. CCSVI treatment works for 66% of those treated (33% see dramatic improvement; 33% see moderate improvement). My wife was treated 4 months ago in Albany, NY and her MS symptoms have all but disappeared. Keep fighting the fight. CCSVI treatment worked for us.

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