MS liberation therapy fund should end, Parrott says

Independent MLA and retired surgeon Jim Parrott is calling on the provincial government to stop spending taxpayers' money on a controversial treatment for multiple sclerosis.

The Alward government set up a fund in 2010 to match up to $2,500 in community donations for patients who want to travel outside of New Brunswick to get the so-called liberation therapy.

But Parrott says the treatment, which involves opening up narrow neck veins, has since been proven "ineffective" and the fund, which has a budget of $75,000 this year, should now be rescinded.

"It should have been evaluated with much more intensity, the value of the procedure," he said.

A recent University of Buffalo study found liberation therapy did not improve symptoms and actually made a few patients worse.

Finance Minister Blaine Higgs said earlier this month the fund, which falls under his department, was a campaign promise, but he planned to seek advice from doctors on the issue.

Health Minister Ted Flemming agrees it may be time to reconsider the fund.

"Perhaps three-and-a-half years ago there was some idea that yeah, it did work. Perhaps three-and-a-half years later, if there's now no clinical evidence that it does work, then you change," Flemming said.

Liberation therapy can cost more than $10,000.

The treatment is based on a hypothesis by Italian doctor Paolo Zamboni who claimed that MS might be linked to narrowed veins and that removing the blockages could relieve symptoms.

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MS liberation therapy fund should end, Parrott says