MS patients to get more help at home

Ontario is setting up an expert panel of doctors to advise on how best to provide follow-up care to patients with multiple sclerosis who return from treatments abroad that are not approved in Canada.

The move from Health Minister Deb Matthews comes after patients who have had the experimental chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) procedure complained they do not get proper care back in Canada.

“I’m confident the group’s work will ensure that people who make the difficult decision to undergo the CCSVI procedure out-of-province will receive the best possible care when they return,” Matthews said in a statement.

The government noted that the procedure is not covered by public health insurance in Canada “because there is insufficient evidence that it is safe and effective.”

That has made it tricky for doctors here to provide follow-up care.

The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada had been pushing for guidelines so that Canadian doctors can provide better care to patients returning home.

They deserve “appropriate and timely medical care,” said society president Yves Savoie.

The controversial procedure — which some MS patients swear by — involves an angioplasty to clear blockages or narrow stretches of veins in the head and neck.

Doctors on the expert advisory group include Barry Rubin, medical director of the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre in Toronto and Paul O’Connor, director of the MS Clinic at St. Michael’s Hospital

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/946532--ms-patients-to-get-more-help-at-home