FREDERICTON – The New Brunswick Medical Society is calling on the provincial government to stop spending public money on so-called liberation therapy for multiple sclerosis patients.
The group says the money that now goes to a fund to help people in New Brunswick with MS pay for the treatment would be better spent on other clinically effective methods of treating the disease.
President Dr. Robert Desjardins has posted an open letter on the group’s website, calling on the province to immediately suspend the fund.
Desjardins says while doctors and patients once held hope for liberation therapy, recent studies have shown it’s not medically effective in treating most people with MS.
In May, Finance Minister Blaine Higgs said the government will continue offering public money to people seeking liberation treatment outside Canada despite waning interest in the procedure.
The government has budgeted $75,000 this year for the fund on top of the $400,000 it set aside in the first two years of the program.
Applicants can get $2,500 each if a community group raises matching funds for the procedure, which can cost more than $10,000.
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