CCSVI Assessments in Vancouver

For those Canadians (and Americans) who do not currently have access to CCSVI assessments, here is news from a fellow MSer about CCSVI assessments being undertaken on the west coast (thanks, Kerry):

• http://www.nationalsurgery.com/ is the main web site for False Creek Surgical Centre in Vancouver. National Surgery has a facility in Winnipeg too (Maples), but I do not know if they are on it. Vancouver is much nicer...
  

• FCSC is offering the MRV for $2079, Doppler for $499, or both for $2300. If you have not a doctor to sign the requisition, False Creek has 2 staff doctors who will give MS/CCSVI people the requisition for free. They only do the scanning twice a week (I believe on Monday and Thursday), and I think that they can do 4 per day. I do not know yet whether they are up to speed on the vagaries of the diagnosis, as no one has reported yet. Purportedly, they have done 4 yesterday, and there was at least one confirmed. I hope to call them tomorrow to inquire further. (as you may, or may not know, the diagnosis is the tricky part, intervention seems to be straight-forward.)

• This is totally private-pay at this point, but at the very least, the associated costs ought to be 100% tax deductible. Yasmeen has mentioned the possibility of a class-action suit in the future to recover costs. I am not the litigious type, but there you are...
  

• If you are interested, there is a consultant local to Vancouver (Yasmeen Sayeed) who has done a lot of leg work already. She sets up treatment in other countries - such as India, Germany, etc., and has been very helpful. She has a vested interest, as she is in business, but I am impressed with her so far. She is pro-active, and I think at this point, is building good will, with a longer view than a few quick bucks. I have been communicating with her several times a day since last week, and feel that she is totally legit. I am sure that you can contact False Creek yourself, or, if you need more, Yasmeen can arrange travel, accommodation, referrals, appointments, etc.

• For full disclosure, I have no interest in her consultancy business, and expect to receive no considerations of any kind from her. If you do enlist her, I have not checked her out with the Better Business Bureau, or such, though I would before contracting her for anything. She has agreed that I can share her communications with me, and if you would like, I can forward them by e-mail. I will include her contact info. here none-the-less. Although I have no agreement with her, if you do contact her, please let her know that I referred you, just so that she knows that I am acting in good faith.

As I enter this, I'm reminded that several discussion threads have referred to radiologists that did Dopplers and MRVs but didn't really know what to look for in order to properly diagnose CCSVI. Therefore, until we can get more information about the qualifications of the people doing this, anyone considering getting assessed at FCSC should request information about their bona fides. If anyone out there has information about this, please let me know.