Clinical trials of controversial MS therapy still not OK'd

Brandon Sun - ONLINE EDITION

By: Larry Kusch

6/03/2012 8:27 AM | Comments: 0

MANITOBA is likely still months away from a decision on whether to proceed with clinical trials for a controversial multiple sclerosis treatment.

The province and the Manitoba Health Research Council (MHRC) had hoped trials to assess liberation therapy, which involves opening up blocked neck veins, would begin early this year.

Premier Greg Selinger announced $5 million in funding toward the research last April. The deadline for research proposals was Sept. 30.

Christina Weise, executive director of the MHRC, which would oversee the trials, said her organization hopes to make an announcement by spring. "The review is ongoing and a final decision has not been made," she said in an interview.

Weise said the review is being done by a committee of experts who will determine which proposal, if any, best meets the council's criteria. Those include expertise in designing and managing clinical trials, providing care for MS patients and leading a multi-disciplinary, multi-site research team.

The task is onerous and there are ethical hurdles, Weise said. To test the procedure, researchers would do a double-blind study consisting of patients who are receiving the treatment and those who aren't but think they are, she said. "It's very, very complex."

Saskatchewan, the first jurisdiction in Canada to announce it would fund home-based clinical research trials, abandoned that plan last summer when the single research proposal it received failed to meet criteria set out by the province's health research foundation.

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Clinical trials of controversial MS therapy still not OK'd