Saskatchewan vows to forge ahead with MS trials

The province says it will fund trials of the controversial “liberation therapy” despite objections from Ottawa and the MS Society.

Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall says he intends to go forward with clinical trials of a contentious MS treatment known as liberation therapy, despite objections from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the Multiple Sclerosis Society and Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq. The treatment is based on the idea that MS is caused by blockages in veins to the brain, and is not an autoimmune disease as is currently believed. Most in the medical community say there’s no evidence the therapy has any value, but patients and their families have advocated for more research into it. Saskatchewan has the highest prevalence of MS in the country.