Released on February 7, 2012
Applications will close Friday, February 24, 2012, for Saskatchewan multiple sclerosis (MS) patients interested in volunteering for a clinical trial in Albany, New York.
Until midnight on that date, the online application form (www.health.gov.sk.ca/ms-clinical-trial) will remain available and the toll-free number (1-855-690-9901) will be open 24 hours.
The two-year, double-blind clinical trial at Albany Medical Centre has room for eighty-six Saskatchewan MS patients. To date, about 589 people have submitted applications online or by phone.
Saskatchewan has one of the highest incidences of MS in the world, at 340 per 100,000 residents. An estimated 3,500 people in the province have been diagnosed with MS - a neurological disease in which the communication ability of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord is impaired or destroyed.
Applying for the clinical trial does not guarantee participation. Potential research participants will be randomly drawn from all applications, and then go through a screening and assessment process to confirm they are eligible to be involved in the research.
The first of the eligible Saskatchewan patients are expected to travel to Albany in March. It will take several months to contact, screen and assess enough patients to fill all 86 spaces available to Saskatchewan patients. Half of those participating in Albany will receive the Liberation Therapy procedure, and half will receive a placebo procedure.
In 2010, the Saskatchewan government was the first province in Canada to commit funding for research into the effectiveness of the Liberation Therapy as a treatment for MS. In the absence of a suitable research proposal within the province, the government pledged $2.2 million to cover costs for patients selected to participate in the Albany research trial.
For more details about the clinical trial, visit www.health.gov.sk.ca/ms-clinical-trial.
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For more information, contact:
Tyler McMurchy
Health
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4083
Email: tyler.mcmurchy@gov.sk.ca