N.L. to fund trials of MS treatment

Newfoundland and Labrador's provincial government will provide some funding for clinical trials of an unproven treatment for multiple sclerosis.

Earlier this year when asked if the province would help fund trials to test if the Zamboni therapy, or liberation treatment, helps people with MS, Health Minister Jerome Kennedy said no.

But after traveling to a conference of provincial leaders in August, Kennedy said Newfoundland and Labrador's provincial government has changed its position.

"We're certainly willing to engage in national clinical trials and we are willing to provide our fair share of the money for these trials to proceed," said Kennedy. "There will still have to be the two-step procedure of determining whether or not the blocked veins are related to MS and secondly whether or not clinical trials will show the efficacy of the procedure."

Saskatchewan announced in July that it will fund clinical trials of the treatment that increases blood flow from the brain by opening blood vessels.

Kennedy said the province will decide if the procedure will be covered by its medical insurance plan  (MCP) after trials are completed.

Some patients from Newfoundland and Labrador have already spent thousands of dollars of their own money to travel to other countries to have the procedure done.

The procedure, developed by Italian vascular surgeon Dr. Paolo Zamboni, uses balloon angioplasty — a proven technique for opening narrowed blood vessels to the heart.