Ms. Aglukkaq expressed her condolences to the friends and family of Mahir Mostic, an Ontario man who underwent surgery in Costa Rica, and
described his death as “tragic.” Asked whether Canadians should be

travelling abroad for the treatment, which is not approved here, Ms.

Aglukkaq advised against it.

“Based on the information I have received from the experts, personally I would not recommend it — but individuals make their own
choices,” Ms. Aglukkaq said.

News of Mr. Mostic’s death has re-ignited debate about the procedure, which involves opening up blocked veins, and was developed by Dr. Paolo
Zamboni from Italy. Ms. Aglukkaq noted that Dr. Zamboni himself has

said the treatment should not be done outside of clinical trials, which

some Canadian patients are demanding but, so far, the government has

resisted supporting because it says there is not enough evidence the

procedure is safe or that Dr. Zamboni’s theory about blocked veins being

the cause of MS symptoms even holds.

Ottawa is helping to fund seven research projects related to liberation therapy and in the next few weeks an expert panel, partly
made up of those researchers, will hold its first meeting to review any

preliminary findings. It will also consider the idea of creating a

registry of some kind to track Canadians who are going abroad.

Ms. Aglukkaq said the federal government will support clinical trials if the scientific evidence shows they are warranted. Mr. Mostic’s death
also highlights the challenge facing doctors and patients seeking

follow-up care at home once they have received the surgery abroad.

Mr. Mostic had his surgery in June, then blood clots formed around the stent that was inserted in his neck and his friends say he couldn’t
find a doctor willing to treat him in Canada so he went back to Costa

Rica in October. The Niagara Falls man died there soon after he was

given medication to dissolve the clots, which may have triggered

internal bleeding.

Liberal MP Kirsty Duncan, who is involved in the MS file and is constantly in touch with patients, said she knows of other cases in
which patients who have had the procedure are being refused followup

care at home.

“That is unethical and it’s immoral and that’s why it’s so important that we have clinical trials here in Canada,” she said. “Having clinical
trials would allow our patients to be tracked and for there to be

follow-up.”

The willingness of MS patients, desperate for some relief from their debilitating symptoms, to spend thousands of dollars to go abroad is
putting doctors here in a difficult position once their patients return.

Some may be uncomfortable providing follow-up care for a procedure they

don’t believe in or know little about. Doctors are not obliged to

accept new patients, and according to the Ontario College of Physicians,

they are expected to stay within their scope of practice.

“We would not want a physician to accept a patient who requires treatment that is not within their education and experience,” Kathryn
Clarke, a spokeswoman said.

“There is an ethical obligation to treat patients regardless of the source of the care if they experience a complication, but it would have
to be done by people who feel qualified to do that,” she said.

The Canadian Medical Association also said physicians have a duty to provide care in emergency situations but in non-urgent cases, they must
assess if the care needed is within their scope of training and if they

don’t have the capacity to help a patient, they will refer them to

another practitioner.

Supporters of Dr. Zamboni’s treatment say the dilemmas about after-care and the risks being taken by Canadians such as Mr. Mostic
would be avoided if the federal and provincial governments would offer

it here.

“This is a direct result of the government of Canada refusing the treatment locally, said Steven Simonyi-Gindele, founder of a
Vancouver-based group called Reformed Multiple Sclerosis Society.

http://liberationtreatmentccsvi.com/2010/11/dont-fall-for-overseas-ms-cure-minister/