For all those who have read today's Winnipeg Free Press with the story on the CCSVI Clinic this is my response: "There is a difference between responsible reporting and what Melissa Martin chose to write about the CCSVI Clinic in this article. She was in possession of factual information and documents that put the CCSVI Clinic in a favorable light but chose to withhold that information in which she received from the CCSVI Clinic that would have conflicted with her agenda to smear our reputation in order to sensationalize her story. At no time did anyone from the CCSVI Clinic pressure patients into going to India for the Liberation Procedure and that she should have considered that the one person who made that claim clearly had her own agenda because she was disheartened by her 'borderline' results. We simply provide information to people about our enhanced hospital stay and aftercare program should a patient decide to have the procedure. You can't pressure someone to make an important decision about their health. These MS patients are more knowledgeable about the CCSVI condition and the options for treatment then most physicians are, to suggest that they can be pressured into a decision to have the procedure done in India is ludicrous. Patients who have signed up to be part of our open ended study on the safety and efficacy of an enhanced aftercare protocol to reduce the rate of re-stenosis versus having the procedure on an outpatient basis which seems to contribute to long term failure have done so because they want to be part of the important work we are doing for MS patients and ensure that they are getting the best care possible." Another important detail that Ms. Martin was aware of and failed to share with the public is that Dr. Don Simonson of Winnipeg Manitoba has gone on record to say that he is heading up the Winnipeg Research Team for our IRB approved study and will be following the progress of each and every Manitoba patient involved in the study that returns from having the Liberation Procedure through us. This is huge given that most patients cannot get a physcian to provide them care once they return from having the Liberation Procedure and as we all know ther has been a person recently who died for that very reason. Shouldn't these facts have been given to the public?

comment by Tracey Henry