Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Again, that's purely speculative. I'm a vascular surgeon. I'm trained to treat venous and arterial anomalies. When I see a venous or arterial anomaly that I think I can treat with relative ease at very low risk, at very low cost, I think I should probably be allowed to treat it.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  I'm not aware of any hospital in Canada doing the procedure at this time.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  I wouldn't say a blind eye. I think there has been an incredible amount of pressure generated within the system that says you have to do a controlled double-blind study to see if it's effective, just as you would for a new drug coming out. The difference is it's not a new drug.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Your guess is as good as mine.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  No, we do not.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  I spent a morning, I think it was a week ago, at the Ministry of Health trying to get some of the information you've requested, and we're working on getting the answers to the question. I don't have the answers yet.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Yes.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  If I could go back to the studies that were done, in the early 1990s carotid endarterectomy was a common procedure in Canada. When we got into the mid-1990s, the neurology group thought the carotid did not need to be fixed surgically and it could be controlled by giving drugs. Th

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  In most cases the procedure itself is fairly easy. To say it's easy for the inexperienced hand would be foolish. For a very experienced intervention radiologist the angioplasty, as I showed on Mr. Garvie, was done very simply, very quickly, and very safely, with very low risk to

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  To the best of my knowledge, the imaging presents no risk whatsoever. It's done with ultrasound technique, and if it's done by a well-trained technician the results are significantly better than if it's done by someone who hasn't been trained in Zamboni's actual technique. We st

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  I would answer that in a different way. I think I have an ethical dilemma as a physician not to treat people with CCSVI. I think there is good anecdotal evidence to suggest that people with CCSVI do well with treatment. Again, as a vascular surgeon I do not treat MS; I treat CCSV

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Would it be possible to move and let Lianne give her testimony while I pull up the images on Steven? That would save some time.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Madam Chair, members of the committee, thank you very much for having me back. I really appreciate the opportunity. I would like to point out that Rebecca Cooney is back with us today, and this time she walked in without a wheelchair. She had her venoplasty done in Albany, in t

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Yes, I have.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  There have been no complications to treatment. I'll give you a really nice example. A 23-year-old kid can't feel his left arm or left leg. He gets an angioplasty done and he gets feeling back in his left leg and his left arm. He's living in a house with an elevator because he c