Liberals Support treatment Now

[Salerdog]

Advances in treating diseases come only through clinical trials. Using cancer as an example, while only one percent of patients may be enrolled in a study, the remaining 99 per cent are not denied treatment. Why is MS being treated differently by our celebrated medical system?

This is a matter of utmost urgency. Many MS patients are experiencing a rapid decline in their health. We believe there is a moral obligation to offer all MS patients the imaging necessary to identify a venous malformation and access to the treatment that could possibly stop the progression of their disease in its tracks

Full letter link
http://www.liberal.ca/en/newsroom/media ... a-aglukkaq

[81Charger]

This is a start hopefully all the political parties will get on board.


Glenn

[cheerleader]

Here is a terrific article from the Globe and Mail explaining why these two particular MPs are so interested in CCSVI research...they are doctors, know people with MS, and understand the connection of impaired venous function and neurovascular disease-- Canadian MS patients are fortunate to have these advocates.

link to article
cheer

[fiddler]

There are lots of comments in response to the Globe and Mail article. Some were simply political garbage, but others were at least on topic. I replied to a comment from someone who works in health care imaging who said that testing MSers would be too expensive:

Dwight Winger, do the math: I would guess that, on average, each MS patient costs the health care system (Medicare or Insurance or patient-paid) $30,000 to $50,000 per year, and that doesn't take into account the economic losses related to MSers being unable to work, much less the tremendous toll on their quality of life. This is an investment with a potentially huge return in reduced cost to the health care system.

While I recognize that we can't diagnose 70,000 people in a short period of time (because of equipment, because of lack of expertise in diagnosing CCSVI), saying that we should therefore not do anything about getting geared up to do it makes no sense at all.

I went to Poland to be diagnosed and "liberated". It would have been nice if I could have at least been diagnosed before I went, but I understand that these things take time. What I would not understand (or accept) is that fellow MSers would still have no Canadian options five years from now. That wouldn't just be stupid, it would be inhumane.