Tory senators kill proposed legislation on controversial MS treatment

OTTAWA - The Conservatives have used their Senate majority to kill legislation that would have authorized a national strategy to deal with a controversial therapy for multiple sclerosis.

Liberal senators say it’s shameful that Bill S-204 was squelched in committee.

They say the Conservatives refused to allow MS patients to testify about the effects of treatment for what is known as chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency.

The Conservative senators argue this is a matter for science and medicine, not Parliament.

The government has promised clinical trials of the therapy and a national register of patients, although neither the trials nor the registry have started.

The treatment is based on a hypothesis from Italian vascular surgeon Dr. Paolo Zamboni, who theorizes that a narrowing of veins that drain blood from the brain may be linked to MS.