MS Society to announce clinical trials for stem cell treatment

Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

By: Mary Agnes Welch

Posted: 01/29/2015 8:55 AM | Comments: | Last Modified: 01/29/2015 7:49 PM | Updates

In the wake of controversy over a costly overseas stem cell treatment touted by a Winnipeg businessman, the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada is launching a genuine clinical trial open to MS patients in Winnipeg and Ottawa.

The MS Society has earmarked $4.2 million for the two-year study. The clinical trial is limited to 20 people in Manitoba and 20 at the Ottawa site.

The clinical trial, the first of its kind in Canada, comes after revelations about a local medical researcher, Doug Broeska, who charged about 70 MS and ALS patients as much as $45,000 for stem cell treatment at a hospital in India.

Controversy has swirled about his credentials, the ethics approvals his research received, promises he made about the treatments effects and the follow-up care provided to patients. Broeska, who has been successfully sued several times in relation to past business ventures, claimed to have a PhD from the University of Manitoba, which is inaccurate.

He later claimed to have a PhD from Brightland University, which charges $3,600 for a PhD certificate available in three to five weeks.

Though reluctant to comment directly on the Regenetek controversy, MS Society President and CEO Yves Savoie noted pointedly that the new clinical trial does not ask any patients to pay and was vetted by a rigorous ethical approval process.

He also noted that, while stem cell treatment offers significant hope, the treatment is still experimental and the effects are still murky.

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MS Society to announce clinical trials for stem cell treatment