The Food and Drug Administration has announced that a new experimental therapy for multiple sclerosis has resulted in death, nerve damage, stroke and bleeding in the abdomen, without having any benefits that have been proven for those who suffer from the disease.
The treatment is called liberation therapy and targets the chronic insufficiency of the cerebrospinal venous or CCSVI, which is the narrowing of veins in the neck and head. The treatment involves the insertion of stents or balloons into the veins to help widen them to relieve MS symptoms.
In 2011, the FDA was notified of a death of a patient from brain bleeding after having received the treatment. Another patient, said the FDA, was permanently paralyzed following the treatment after suffering a stroke. Those particular incidents are what prompted the regulatory agency to send out its warning.
A spokesperson from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society said it was still trying to determine what risks were associated with the therapy. MS has a variable range of symptoms that include chronic pain and physical disability. There is not cure for the disease but drugs can help treat its symptoms.
Both the NMSS and the FDA support more research into the therapy and the link between MS and CCSVI along with clinical trials for liberation therapy.
