MS patients rally to get treatment covered

Calgarians suffering from multiple sclerosis rallied at the Foothills hospital Friday, pleading with the provincial government to approve a new treatment already being used in Europe but not yet available here.

About 40 people gathered at the hospital's MS clinic to raise awareness about "liberation therapy," a surgical technique that involves increasing blood flow to the brain.

MS patient Wendy Sturekl, who went to Poland for the procedure two months ago at a cost of $10,000, said it stopped her pain and let her enjoy life again.

"I was an old basketball player [but]for years I haven't been able to catch a ball, and the other day, there was a tennis ball in the yard, and I caught it. We played for an hour," she said.

A 2009 study published by the procedure's inventor, Italian vascular surgeon Dr. Paolo Zamboni, suggested it was highly successful in reducing MS symptoms.

'I can't believe that the government, the medical people, are so slow to get us fixed.' Carmen Wassill, MS sufferer

It is based on the theory that MS is linked to chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency, a condition where blocked veins in the neck or chest prevent blood from draining properly from the brain.

Similar to angioplasty, the surgery involves removing the blockage in the veins that carry blood to and from the brain.

But the procedure is still considered experimental by most countries, and has yet to be approved in Alberta or any other Canadian jurisdiction.

Alberta Health Services has said further research is needed before it would consider seeking approval for the treatment.

"Being told you have a progressive illness all your life and all of a sudden hearing that there's something that could stop it, it's just overwhelming," said Carmen Wassill, who has MS.

"I can't believe that the government, the medical people, are so slow to get us fixed."

In November 2009, theMultiple Sclerosis Society of Canada said it would offer grants for researchers in Canada to try to speed up investigation of the procedure's safety and effectiveness.