The doctors at the False Creek Medical Center were less then fourth coming with information after the Victoria incident (which we believe was there doctors and patients that were reprimanded) We had many questions about the information given to us and little was given, in the way of a straight answer. We did feel comfortable enough with the doctors minimal explanation that the right side veins were not draining properly and that "Don is a great candidate for angioplasty in Poland" statement.
So that next question is wait or go. Normally when you are sick, you go to the hospital and the doctors there would treat you but with CCSVI you can't just go down to the hospital and have a surgeon perform the "Liberation Procedure", a simple Angioplasty on the narrowed veins in my fathers neck. The problem is, the Canadian Government (paid monkeys) and MS Society of Canada (more paid monkeys) have seen fit to shut down anyone wanting anything to do with this "experimental procedure". Case in point the two people have the surgery done in Victoria.
So why are doctors not allowed to fix this medical issue. If you had narrowed arteries you would get angioplasty. If your finger was broke, they would set it. Did the doctors not set broken fingers until they had enough research on how it would affect you down the road? No. So what is the hold up. In my opinion, the doctors, Ministry of Health and MS Society's are all run by pharmaceutical company's. Pharmaceutical company's fund all of them with billions of dollars, and if you don't tow the company line your funding vanishes. Drug company's make money selling drugs that "help" you with your problems. They don't sell drugs that can cure your problems. There is just no money in it for them, if they sell you a drug that cost them millions to research, test and produce they would lose there shirts if they cured you.
Ever wonder why there have been no major cures since 1952 when the first Polio Vaccine was invented? It could be that that was the time that drug companies were looking at profits more that people.
Sorry, back to stay or go. We can't receive the treatment in North America. The doctor's have to do there due diligence and research this "experimental procedure". Tack on the fact that no one that receives money from the drug companies will touch the research with a ten foot pole. As well, the MS Society who's money should be going to fund this research is run by the pharmacutical companies and is dragging there feet. Dragging there feet? Well, the MS society has generously donated 2.4 million dollars towards the research of CCSVI and the Liberation Procedure. Sound good, well look further. That 2.4 million is split 7 ways, making it less then $350,000 per research group.
Still sound good well the Michael J Fox Foundation just donated a single grant of 2.1 million to a single researcher or the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine just donated 5.8 million to a single researcher for there research.
Let's do the math, the $350,000 research grant divided by $2350 (the cost of the doppler and MRV scan) and you get roughly 149 patients in that research group. That is the number if you want to be scanned. If you want to be apart of a clinical trial that includes surgery? well i'd guess your looking at about 35 patients in that clinical trial (other country offering the procedure for about $10,000). Oh I forgot to mention that the 2.4 million dollars being given out by the MS Society is shared by the America and Canadian MS Society's with the majority of the money coming from the States, where the majority of the research will be done.
You can tell i'm not jaded about how our government is handling this at all :) Thank god there are countries out there that see a good thing and act on it. So where to go and get the procedure done. First up is India, the only problem with India is the huge waitlist. Second up is Poland, waitlist isn't as long but they sound a little stent crazy over there. Third, Fourth and Fifth up are, well, hmmm lets say not on the top of my bucket list of places to go, Bulgeria, Slovenia, and Kuwait.
Oh wait, we have a new contender. Costa Rica, it's close (okay not close but closer than India and Poland), it has a bussling cosmedic surgery industry going on and the wait list is minimal. By minimal I mean my parents phoned and left there information. In less then a week they had a return call, questions answered and booked surgery in someones cancelled surgical slot.
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