New research that questions the benefit of the so-called ``liberation treatment for multiple sclerosis isn't prompting the federal and Saskatchewan governments to change course.
   
Health Canada and Saskatchewan say they're still going ahead with separate trials to determine if the experimental treatment has any validity.
   
A small clinical trial done at the University Buffalo has found the treatment is safe, but showed no benefit to M-S sufferers.
   
The treatment unblocks neck veins to improve blood drainage from the brain.
   
The idea was first put forward by Italian vascular surgeon Paulo Zamboni.
   
He believed that narrowed and twisted veins in the neck and chest create a backup of blood in the brain, resulting in iron deposits that could cause the lesions typical of M-S.
   
Since then, an estimated 30-thousand M-S patients worldwide have sought the therapy in clinics that have popped up in such countries as Poland, Bulgaria, India and Mexico.
   
The unproven treatment is not offered in Canada.