Medpedia

MANITOBA has no immediate plans to follow Saskatchewan's lead and fund clinical trials of the "liberation treatment" for multiple sclerosis patients.

Health Minister Theresa Oswald said she doesn't want to dash the hopes of local patients, but medical experts remain divided over the efficacy and safety of the procedure.

She also said she's unclear about the details of Saskatchewan's plan.

Earlier this week, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall confirmed his government's intention of funding clinical trials of the liberation procedure, saying he feels the province has a responsibility to support the potential treatment for some 3,500 MS patients there.

Wall said he expects to receive research proposals for clinical trials that could begin as early as late 2010 or early 2011. He said the duration and size of the clinical trial -- including whether out-of-province patients will be eligible -- will be determined by the medical experts conducting the research.

"We should be trying to find better treatments and one day a cure for MS, so I believe that's part of the job of the Government of Saskatchewan," Wall said during an interview with the Free Press on Wednesday.

Oswald said she is interested to learn more about Saskatchewan's approach, but Manitoba doesn't want to put all its research "eggs in one basket." She said the province will continue to support nationally co-ordinated efforts to determine whether chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency -- a condition in which narrow veins in the neck, chest and spine cause poor blood drainage -- could be a factor in MS.