Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I'd like to thank all of you for coming, and particularly for your heartfelt testimony. You've touched all of us very deeply.
I would like to begin by saying that we absolutely need a national brain strategy in this country that includes awareness and education, genetic fairness, and caregiver support, for a few. I think it's incumbent upon all of us to advocate for a national brain strategy. I also think it is incumbent upon us to explore new, promising research. This was the reason for this subcommittee. It was to bring the scientists, the stakeholders, and the decision-makers together. We know that in brain conditions, time is brain.... The longer we wait, the more damage.... With MS, the earlier we catch it, the better we treat it.
If there is a vein problem in the liver and in the hip region, we image it and we treat it. I want to know why MS patients are being denied this treatment. I will also recognize that there has been controversy, that there was a death related to a stent, but I want to know why MS patients are being treated differently, and I will ask Mr. Savoie, please.