OTTAWA – Leon Benoit, MP for Vegreville- Wainwright, is set to have  his Private Members Motion up for  2nd Hour of Debate in the House of Commons in the coming weeks. Benoit’s Motion, M-274, is meant to ensure that patients suffering with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and their families and caregivers have the access to information they need to make more informed decisions on the management of their condition.

“After months of discussions with the constituents in my riding, and meeting with various individuals and groups on MS, it was clear to me that there is great hope in the CCSVI treatment for MS patients and their families,” said Benoit. “Whether the hope actually becomes reality is still to be determined.”

CCSVI, an acronym for Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency, is a restriction of blood flow drainage from the brain and spinal cord. The CCSVI Liberation Therapy treatment is a surgery to improve blood flow in certain veins which carry blood from the brain and upper spinal column.

Benoit further stated, “My Motion is meant to fill the desperate need for information that MS sufferers in Canada will have in the coming years until the scientific processes are finished or at least until they are at a stage where information gleaned from the public is released.”

M-274 is set to be debated on February 16, 2012, at 3:30pm MST. Those wishing to watch a live feed of the debate can view it online by going to www.cpac.ca. Transcripts of the debate will be available shortly after.

“I am very much looking forward to this next stage of the legislative process, and hopefully the continued successful progression of M-274,” Benoit concluded.

Please see the full text of Benoit’s Motion below:
“That, in the opinion of the House, the government should help ensure that patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and their families and caregivers, have access to the information they need to make informed decisions in the management of their condition by ensuring that:

(a)    the MS monitoring system currently being developed by the Canadian Institute for Health Information contain specific and useful information, accessible directly to patients, on the risks, benefits, and other relevant aspects relative to undergoing surgical treatment for chronic cerebro-spinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI)
(b)    departments, agencies and programs work closely with provincial and territorial counterparts, with health professionals associations, such as the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, and with patient groups, such as the MS Society of Canada, on the sharing of up-to-date research-based information on the nature of CCSVI and its link to MS; and
(c)    the government’s two advisory boards dealing with MS ensure the patients’ concerns and views are well represented and heard at future meetings.”