So it appears that the entire slate of directors favouring the status quo were elected. However, that is not the spin put on it in the MSSC message from the chair of the national Board of Directors, Linda Lumsden:"as reported in the Montreal Gazette, one Board member e-mailed members and potential members urging them to register their vote to re-elect the current Board members and prevent CCSVI supporters from getting on the Board."
So there will be CCSVI working group that will probably include "esteemed" researchers like Freedman, clinical neurologists and Board Members who are fine with the MSSC's current approach, which includes some small funding for peripheral issues related to CCSVI diagnosis (not treatment). I wonder if the CCSVI working group will include a "tame" vascular specialist, for appearances? Interestingly, the two big projects in McMasters and UBC received no funding at all from the MSSC. And none of the funding will be aimed at studying the treatment itself, or at studying people who have been treated (of which we now have quite a cohort in Canada, most of whom were treated in Poland). It appears to me that this means that anyone hoping to see treatment available in Canada in anything less than 5 years will be disappointed, if these people get their way.Clearly the topic of CCSVI has been one that has raised a spectrum of opinions. I offer the words of board member James Orr to provide perspective:
“I hope and believe that today’s annual general meeting shows that all of us impacted by MS have more similarities than differences. Anyone who has a loved one with a disease as difficult as MS would want nothing but the best for them. My wife Adriana progressed through various stages of MS and now requires the support of long term care, even though she is still young and competent. She has experienced many treatments and many disappointments. If the CCSVI procedure were available across the country as part of a trial, Adriana would want to try it as soon as possible, assuming she was cleared of any medical risks. We all want a life without MS or at least a life improved. I hope that we can all work together to make this happen."
In this spirit, the national board of the MS Society will be convening a special CCSVI working group, chaired by a member of the board. The group will include persons with MS, members of the clinical and research community and members of the national board. The group will provide for continuing dialogue about the important issues of CCSVI research and treatment and will inform the work of the board.
Am I being too cynical? I hope I am and would appreciate it if someone could provide me with information that would quell my apprehensions.
Here is the link to the Montreal Gazette article: http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/P ... story.html
Correction: Re-checking the MS Society announcement, I realize that I had missed the fact that one of the research funding recipients is from the MS Clinic at UBC, presumably part of the UBC and Saskatoon group intending to do the large CCSVI study.