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Liberation Therapy, Controversial MS Therapy, Caused Death Of Maralyn Clarke: Husband

First Posted: 07/08/11 07:59 PM ET Updated: 09/07/11 06:12 AM ET

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THE CANADIAN PRESS -- CALGARY - A Calgary man says his wife died after getting a controversial treatment for multiple sclerosis called liberation therapy.

Frank Lamb says his wife, Maralyn Clarke, went to a California clinic to have the surgery to widen veins in her neck on April 13.

But Lamb says hours later Clarke had a massive bleed in her head called a subdural hematoma and was taken to a nearby hospital where she died on April 18.

The grieving man says his wife was diagnosed with MS about 20 years ago and felt she was going downhill, so she hoped the procedure would help relieve some of her symptoms.

The clinic where the surgery was performed, Synergy Health Concepts Inc., was not immediately available to comment.

It's the second reported death of a Canadian who had liberation therapy -- an Ontario man died in a Costa Rica clinic last October.

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There are, as yet, dark clouds of doubt wrapped around the silver lining, if not silver bullet, liberation therapy might represent.

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northstar11
mt
603 Fans
08:11 AM on 07/09/2011
to the nay sayers of anything new and unproven --------

stomach ulcers were treated big big pharma with vey expensive drugs ----they did not treat the wound or its cause----only sought to block aggravation from stomach acid --much the same as one would avert pain by not putting salt on an open wound -----

new thinking discovered that stomach ulcers could be cured with simple cheap anti biotics

finding cures for disease costs big pharma to lose revenue ----so check where the "skeptics" are coming from
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CommonSenseMakesSense
13 Fans
09:29 PM on 07/08/2011
Firstly, RIP Ms. Clarke. I have an aggressive form of MS and it's not an easy existence. I think the Liberation theory is completely bogus. Dr. Zamboni "cures" his wife with the treatment yet she is "too private" to be interviewed. Additionally, he himself advises against going to India, Poland, Costa Rica, etc., to have the procedure. The science is sketchy. Because it was reported on W5 does not mean it's true. I recall a segment on W5 about eight years ago regarding a study in Ottawa where a doctor took six people with MS, wiped out their immune systems (because it is an auto-immune disease) with chemotherapy and then re-introduced their immune systems grown from blood cells taken before the chemotherapy. One person died, no one was cured and we haven't heard about it since. I would love to rid myself of this insidious disease - it really is awful; like having a slow stroke - but as much as I truly hate it, I'd want hard science before I did anything as vague and unproven as the Liberation Treatment. I don' judge those who have had the procedure, as I know the deep desperation associated with this disease, but programs like W5 should adhere to responsible, professional and ethical journalism when reporting such on serious matters of health, rather than the romanticized "miracle cure/love story" themed report they did on Dr. Zamboni - I found it insulting to my intelligence, entirely irresponsible and dangerous.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Smirk
Cake or death.
956 Fans
07:07 AM on 07/09/2011
Thank you for providing an explanation of the procedure. My grandfather had a mild form of MS as does my former sister-in-law. It is a very challenging disease, and I wish you the very best in managing it.
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northstar11
mt
603 Fans
08:01 AM on 07/09/2011
zamboni did not promise a miracle cure ---he found a high correlation between two events ---blocked veins and MS and invited the worlds medical people to investigate further
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northstar11
mt
603 Fans
08:36 PM on 07/08/2011
is the husbands opinion backed up by the coroner ----the husband says cause and effect -----

that could be serious so i think i will wait for more detailed information from medical experts
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
toofarleft4thisworld
The Right Is So Wrong
357 Fans
08:34 PM on 07/08/2011
i hope this isn't going to be a medical argument overtaken by anecdotal evidence. all surgery has risk, we don't stop doing bypasses.
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westcoastkid
90 Fans
09:14 PM on 07/08/2011
The entire basis of this treatment is anecdote.

There is no data or research to support this treatment. It exists because of clever online marketing from unverified and unaccountable sources on internet sites. The only data of the effectiveness of this treatment exits in the form of youtube endorsements from alleged patients and biased accounts from the people selling it.

The liberation therapy salespeople feel they can circumvent conventional research and standards of medical ethics by a direct-to-consumer marketing scheme. Because of the overwhelming online interest in miracle cures for chronic, incurable disease like MS - a huge vacuum for medical fraud has opened. This is a predictable consequence.
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little wing
practical radical
126 Fans
09:26 PM on 07/08/2011
This is not a defense of liberation therapy (never heard of it before).
Many conventional therapies, including risky surgeries, are done based on theory alone. And people die from them everyday.
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