Boston Legal goes to Supreme Court over Alzheimer's sufferer's rights
I am a fan of the show Boston Legal. For years the show has alluded to the mild cognitive impairment of Denny Crane (William Shatner) by referring to it as "mad cow". Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transition stage between the cognitive decline of normal aging and the more serious problems caused by Alzheimer's disease. The show is going to address the issue of Alzheimer's directly. This week Denny was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
Boston Legal is about a "whacky" group of attorney's that often take on real life social issues when clients walk into their office ready to sue. In this case, Denny wants to get the experimental Alzheimer's drug Dimebon. Dimebon is an orally-available, small molecule that has been shown to inhibit brain cell death in preclinical models relevant to Alzheimer’s disease. Dimebon is currently in a Phase 3 clinical trial. It is not legal to buy it for Alzheimer's disease because it is not approved by the FDA for this purpose. The show ended the week with Alan Shore (James Spader) gleefully announcing that the United States Supreme Court had decided to hear Denny's case. The issue--he wants to buy the drug, why can't he?
2 comments:
My favorite line from that episode was at the end on the balcony...the difference between heaven and hell: heaven has a better climate; hell has better company.
It's a shame Boston Legal is soooo close to being over.
The Alzheimer’s Association has several online resources about the very topic presented in these episodes at: http://www.alz.org/bostonlegal
Also, please consider using the widget located here:
http://actionalz.org/widgets/crisis.html
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