BY RICHARD WATTS, TIMES COLONIST - May 7, 2010
A Victoria radiologist is facing possible professional rebuke for performing an experimental procedure said to cure the effects of multiple sclerosis.
Dr. Brian Weinerman, an oncologist and executive medical director of diagnostics for the Vancouver Island Health Authority, said he has spoken to the radiologist -- who is now feeling a little chastened -- and passed along a report on the matter.
The radiologist "was a little naive and he knows now what he did was beyond the bounds," said Weinerman.
Last month, two people from Vancouver, both with multiple sclerosis, received a treatment at Victoria General Hospital in which veins draining blood from their brains were unblocked using balloon angioplasty.
The treatment -- named the "liberation" procedure -- was pioneered in Italy by vascular surgeon Dr. Paolo Zamboni, who says it prevents a harmful buildup of iron in the brain.
Weinerman said the two patients were initially sent to Victoria for the procedure on the grounds it might be beneficial for something else, such as reducing swelling in their limbs.
But it soon became apparent they were really seeking the treatment for their MS.
"[The radiologist] knows now and kind of feels he was taken in," said Weinerman.
"Physicians are people like everybody else and everybody gets excited by these things," he said. "I guess he went ahead with it.
Continue
0 comments:
Post a Comment