It is fantastic to see good news on the front page of Saturday's Sept. 11 Citizen, and I am sure all people affected by MS truly hope Lindsay's treatment is a success. There may be hope for everyone afflicted with the disease to live a normal life and not have to worry about the debilitating effects of MS with the possibility of one day being in a wheelchair. I have one question though, and that is why is it that a person needs to leave Canada in order to have this procedure done? There is no reason why a Canadian citizen should have to solicit funds for a relatively simple procedure, the use of stints is not new, it's the results that are life changing. Do we not have a medical system in place for all Canadians?
What I find extremely frustrating is that the federal health ministry will not fund clinical trials for CCSVI treatment. If I read the article correctly there are already 2,000 people that have been successfully treated without federal aid and are willing to release their results. Why is it that the ministry is not looking at these results? Does the ministry feel that if they ignore the problem it will go away? There are at least 70,000 Canadians living with MS, not counting friends and relations, and I am sure at election time they will remember the government that refused to even look at a possible treatment.
It is time for the government to get its head out of the sand, and consider the quote, "The true sign of an idiot is doing the same thing time and time again and expecting different results." The Liberation Treatment exists. Let people have a chance to consider it without having to leave the country.
Val Baranowski
Prince George
