The Cape Breton West MLA, whose wife has MS, was emotional as he described the change in her condition after undergoing the
angioplasty-type treatment in Mexico.

"I only have to watch Shirley get out of bed, get out of her wheelchair, get out of her car," said MacLeod at a news conference
before he tabled the bill. He was surrounded by dozens of MS patients

and their supporters from across Nova Scotia.

While introducing his private member’s bill, MacLeod tabled a petition with more than 7,500 names of people who support clinical
trials.

"Time is the worst enemy for people who suffer from MS," he said. "By sitting on their hands, government is snuffing out the greatest hope
for relief MS sufferers have had in years."

Last month, Saskatchewan committed $5 million to fund clinical trials, which could begin in April. Newfoundland and Labrador has
announced plans to fund a $320,000 study of multiple sclerosis patients

who have chosen to undergo the procedure.

Health Minister Maureen MacDonald has said Nova Scotia won’t commit funding for trials until the scientific evidence justifies such a move.
She reiterated that position in an interview Tuesday after MacLeod’s

news conference.

Health ministers from across Canada agreed in September to create a working group to explore ways to study the treatment, which was first
put forward by Italian vascular surgeon Paolo Zamboni.

He theorizes that narrowed neck veins cause blood-borne iron deposits to build up and damage brain cells and that unblocking the veins will
help MS sufferers.

MacDonald noted that even Zamboni hasn’t received approval for clinical trials in Italy.

"There’s nothing I would like better than have the medical community say to the ministers the treatment is effective and the risk is
acceptable," said MacDonald, who met with the group of MS patients and

families who came to the legislature.

A federal panel is monitoring seven research projects underway in North America, she said. It will make recommendations based on those
studies on whether more extensive clinical trials should be done.

MS patients at the news conference who have undergone the treatment say the improvement they have experienced should be proof enough. Maxine
Leblanc-David of Isle Madame, Cape Breton, has been a driving force in

gathering support for clinical trials. LeBlanc-David, who co-ordinated

the collection of names for the petition, has secondary, progressive MS,

a severe form of the disease.

"Possibly some of the damage won’t be fixed," said Leblanc-David, who paid about $8,000 to have the treatment in Bulgaria. "But I know that I
feel better."

During a meeting with federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq on the issue, MacLeod said he was told that about $40 million in federal
funding is available for MS research.

"There are avenues out there," he said after the news conference. "We’re hoping that by introducing this bill, those avenues will be
explored."

( jmcphee@herald.ca)

http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1209975.html