MS trial ready to go

Premier Brad Wall announced recently that Dr. Gary Siskin of the Albany Medical Centre is in the final stages of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the largest Liberation Therapy clinical trial of its type, and that Saskatchewan Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients can now apply to volunteer to participate in the trial.

"We're keeping our promise to help find answers for patients," Wall said. "Saskatchewan has aggressively pursued options to advance MS research, and we will continue to support studies that will accomplish that goal. We owe that to the 3,500 people in Saskatchewan with MS."

The province is providing $2.2 million in funding to have 86 Saskatchewan MS patients included in the two-year, double-blind clinical trial at Albany Medical Centre in Albany, New York - the largest double-blind liberation therapy study to date.

"It's exciting to be able to offer Saskatchewan patients an opportunity to be involved in this controlled, reputable clinical study," Health Minister Don McMorris said. "We hope it will answer some of the questions about Liberation Therapy as a treatment for MS."

Applying does not guarantee participation in the research. Prospective candidates will be randomly selected from all applications to ensure that everyone has an equal chance to participate. They will then be screened for eligibility and medically assessed. Those invited to participate will be contacted over the next few months, with the first patients expected to travel to Albany in March 2012.

Patients interested in volunteering for the study may apply online at www.health.gov.sk.ca/ms-clinical-trial or by calling 1-855-690-9901. Applications will be accepted until February 24.