Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present three petitions on CCSVI. Canadians with MS want to know when Conservative MPs and senators learned of their government's position to kill both the House and Senate bills for CCSVI. The decision was taken by February 6, 2012.

Questions Passed as Orders for Return  With respect to the government’s position on chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI): (a) does the government track clinical trials on CCSVI currently being undertaken by other countries and, if yes, what are all clinical trials, identified by phase, currently being undertaken worldwide, (i) which countries are undertaking Phase lll trials; (b) does the government question whether CCSVI exists and, if yes, (i) why does the government not question whether treating CCSVI actually improves quality of life for Canadians with multiple sclerosis (MS); (c) how many cases of "major complications associated with venous angioplasty" have occurred in Canada and, if it is not possible to give this number, why, (i) what are identified complications to CCSVI and, for each complication, how many cases versus the number of procedures undertaken have occurred; (d) what are all procedures that have been performed on veins in Canada, including, procedures for Budd-Chiari syndrome and May-Thurner syndrome; (e) what is the government's position on ballooning veins and why does it consider that ballooning veins even once could be unsafe on fragile veins, even though participants involved in the proposed clinical trial will experience two procedures-one real, one simulated-in a one-year period; (f) is the government consulting with Canadians with MS, if so, (i) provide a list of all CCSVI groups the Minister of Health has met with along with the dates of the meetings, (ii) provide a list of all MS groups the Minister of Health has met with along with the dates of the meetings, (iii) provide the number of Canadians with MS the Minister of Health has met and the dates of all meetings, and if the government is not consulting, (iv) why not; (g) how does inviting the investigators of the seven MS-funded CCSVI studies to participate in the consensus workshop on ultrasound imaging meet CIHR's conflict of interest guidelines; (h) what were the results of the consensus workshop on ultrasound imaging, and specifically, (i) what exact imaging procedure will be used in the clinical trials, (ii) will the investigators use Dr Zamboni's procedure and, if so, will they be trained by Dr Zamboni, (iii) will the investigators use multi-modal imaging and, if so, what techniques, (iv) what training will investigators undergo, by whom, what is the number of procedures they will have to perform, and how will “sufficiently practiced” be ensured; (i) approximately how many Canadians with MS have died since November 2009, and by what EDSS score will Canadians with MS have worsened, on average by, since the same time period, and specifically, (i) how many are diagnosed each month, (ii) how many die each month; (j) when will patient accrual actually begin for clinical trials which were to begin on November 1st; and (k) what, if any, research or investment has been undertaken to consider whether to investigate the handling of the CCSVI file, particularly in relation to the “fast-tracking” of a new procedure in Canada, and the down-loading of services to provinces, (i) what are the dates, results and recommendations of any research, (ii) the dollar amount of any investment, (iii) if results and recommendations are available, will Health Canada be acting upon them and when?

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present this petition on CCSVI. Canadians with MS want to know when Conservative MPs and senators learned of their government's position to kill both the House and Senate bills for CCSVI. A decision was taken by February 6, 2012.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present this petition on CCSVI. Canadians with MS want to know when Conservative MPs and senators learned of their government's position to kill both the House and Senate bills for CCSVI as a decision was taken by February 6, 2012.

Petitions  Petitioners are calling on the minister to consult experts actively engaged in diagnosis and treatment of CCSVI to undertake phase III clinical trials on an urgent basis and to require follow-up care.

Questions on the Order Paper  Speaker, with regard to the CIHR scientific expert working group, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research established a scientific expert working group, SEWG, to monitor and analyze results from seven U.S. and Canadian MS societies funded studies, as well as from other related studies from around the world related to venous anatomy and MS. On June 28, 2011, the SEWG reviewed data relating to CCSVI presented at international meetings and then were presented the draft results of a systematic review of peer-reviewed publications regarding CCSVI and MS. An update was provided by study investigators regarding progress of the seven North American studies funded by the MS Society of Canada and U.S.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With respect to the regulatory requirements for off-label use of a medical device and the special access program: (a) what are the federal regulations that control off-label use of a medical device already approved in Canada; (b) when a device such as a "stent" is proposed to be used by a licensed Canadian surgeon or interventional radiologist for the treatment of a medical condition not originally approved by the Medical Devices Bureau, (i) is there a requirement for a separate set of clinical trials or does such use fall under provincial jurisdiction and their practice of medicine guidelines, (ii) and if off-label use falls under provincial jurisdiction, why did the federal government intervene regarding the new procedure for chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI); (c) what are the regulatory requirements for the special access program that allows practitioners to request access to drugs or devices that are not currently approved for use in Canada for patients with serious or life threatening conditions, (i) why did the procedure for chronic CCSVI fail to meet the specified requirements on a compassionate or emergency basis when conventional therapies have failed, are unsuitable, or are unavailable, (ii) how did kidney denervation meet the specified requirements; (d) how many CCSVI procedures worldwide have been performed to date, (i) how many positive and negative peer-reviewed CCSVI studies have been published to date, (ii) how many Canadians are estimated to have had the procedure for CCSVI since January 2010, and how many of them have been followed to date, (iii) how many phase II and phase III clinical trials for CCSVI are currently underway internationally, (iv) in light of the safety findings reported on 1375 patients studied in eight recently published clinical trials on CCSVI, why is Canada beginning with a phase I study; and (e) how many procedures worldwide have been performed for kidney denervation, (i) how many positive and negative peer reviewed studies have been published to date, (ii) had the procedure been assessed through a double-blind trial with a placebo group when the procedure was approved in Canada, (iii) how many safety studies have been published to date, and what is the complication rate, (iv) what phase clinical trials are currently underway internationally, (v) will Canada be undertaking phased clinical trials?

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present three petitions regarding CCSVI. Canadians living with multiple sclerosis are waiting to hear when patient recruitment will start for the promised CCSVI trial, which was to begin November 1 and which the CIHR website states began on that date, but which the Minister of Health's office wrote started in January 2013.

Petitions  Why then are MS patients being silenced as well as the well-known Canadian CCSVI expert, Dr. Sandy McDonald? Why is the government shutting down these important voices? The petitioners call for the Minister of Health to consult experts actively engaged in the diagnosis and treatment of CCSVI to undertake phase III clinical trials on an urgent basis and to require follow-up care.

Petitions  Why, then, are MS patients being silenced as well as a well-known Canadian CCSVI expert, Dr. Sandy McDonald? Why is the government shutting down these important voices? The petitioners call for the Minister of Health to consult experts actively engaged in the diagnosis and treatment of CCSVI to undertake phase III clinical trials on an urgent basis at multiple sites across Canada and to require follow-up care.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present this petition regarding CCSVI. Today marks one year and eighty-two days since the government promised clinical trials on CCSVI. There is still no action and in this time we have potentially lost more than 450 people to devastating multiple sclerosis and those living with the disease will have worsened on average by one disability score.

Health committee  I'll provide a quick update about progress that has been made in determining the relationship between CCSVI and MS. First, The MS Society is very grateful to the Government of Canada and to all parliamentarians for making CCSVI and MS a health priority. People living with MS need answers they can use to make decisions about their own health.

Bill C-410 An Act to establish a Pan-Canadian Strategy for Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI)

This Act may be cited as the Pan-Canadian Strategy for Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI) Act. INTERPRETATION Definitions 2. The following definitions apply in this Act. “CCSVI”« IVCC » “CCSVI” means chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency. “Minister”« ministre » “Minister” means the Minister of Health.

Health  Speaker, our government recognizes the difficulties and heartbreak faced by the thousands of MS patients and their families across Canada. We were clear all along that we are committed to funding a clinical trial for CCSVI once all the necessary medical and ethical standards were met. That is why last month at the health ministers meetings in Halifax I announced that, after a rigorous review process, clinical trials for CCSVI have been accepted and recruitment for patients to participate will begin this month.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present this petition regarding CCSVI. Conservative senators are refusing to hear from those who have MS. Can anyone imagine a committee silencing a cancer patient, a heart patient or someone living in poverty? Why, then, are MS patients being silenced, such as well-known Canadian CCSVI expert, Dr.