(no subject)
Dec. 22nd, 2005 12:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
krazykitkatI've been watching Quincy, ME the last few months. First seasons 1 and 2 on the dvds I bought my parents, and now season 6 on channel 7. Yes, it's aged a little, but I've been amazed at the topics they've tackled (often they seemed to be far ahead of their time), and how they used what I'm assuming to be real life examples of laws etc. There was one episode on rape and teaching medical staff how to preserve evidence. An episode on how planes travelling over water weren't required to have life rafts.
We just watched the episode from the other night and it was about Tourette syndrome and the Orphan Drug Law. I just thought I'd do a google search, and the first site to come up was from the FDA and included the following.
How TV Launched the Orphan Drug Law
Before the 1980s, victims of many rare disorders faced suffering and even death, with little hope for treatment. It simply was not cost effective for pharmaceutical companies to spend millions developing treatments that would only be used by a few hundred or a few thousand patients.
The landscape changed, however, when Congress passed a bill in 1983 that created incentives for developing products for these rare, or orphan, diseases. But the Orphan Drug Act navigated a long, bumpy road before becoming law, several times appearing to be doomed. While many in the rare disease community credit increased awareness of the orphan problem to an array of groups, including Congress, industry and the news media, others give thanks to a person who, in the early '80s, was riding high with a hit TV show: actor Jack Klugman.
"There just wouldn't be an Orphan Drug Act without Jack Klugman," says Abbey Meyers, president of the National Organization for Rare Disorders. "The issue simply wouldn't be known to the public without him."
Klugman used his weekly TV medical drama, "Quincy," on two occasions to spotlight the plight of rare-disease patients, prompting a huge outpouring of support that ultimately pushed the orphan drug bill through Congress.
Meyers recalls that the situation was bleak before Klugman's involvement. Rep. Henry Waxman (D.-Calif.) had received a call in 1980 from the mother of a boy, Adam Seligman, whose drug treatment for the rare disorder Tourette syndrome had been seized at the Canadian border. Because the drug was approved in Canada but not in the United States, Adam's doctor had arranged to bring the drug from Canada for his patient. Adam's mother was frantic that her son was about to run out of medication.
For his part, Waxman held hearings to gauge the extent of the rare disease problem. Witnesses, including Adam, gave emotional testimony, but the hearings were sparsely attended. However, one person present was a reporter from the Los Angeles Times, who wrote a story about the orphan issue.
The next day, Jack Klugman's brother, Maurice, saw the Times article. He told the story to Jack, who decided to create a "Quincy" episode devoted to Tourette syndrome and the orphan problem. After it aired in March 1981, viewers responded by sending thousands of letters to Jack Klugman voicing support and asking how they could help.
With the issue now more visible, Waxman introduced an orphan drug bill and held a second hearing--this time with Klugman as a witness. With Klugman's celebrity on board, the news media covered the issue extensively, and even greater popular support followed. But when the bill stalled in Congress, Klugman put together another "Quincy" episode, this time mirroring the real-life holdup of the bill taking place on Capitol Hill. He used 500 "extras," who were real victims of orphan disorders. By the time the show aired in 1982, the House had passed the bill, but it was on hold in the Senate. It later passed but faced veto by President Reagan, in part because the administration objected to the bill's tax credits.
Rare-disease activists then took out full-page ads in major newspapers urging the president to sign the bill. It worked. On Jan. 4, 1983, the Orphan Drug Act became law.
How many shows can say they've helped change lives and influence laws?
We just watched the episode from the other night and it was about Tourette syndrome and the Orphan Drug Law. I just thought I'd do a google search, and the first site to come up was from the FDA and included the following.
How TV Launched the Orphan Drug Law
Before the 1980s, victims of many rare disorders faced suffering and even death, with little hope for treatment. It simply was not cost effective for pharmaceutical companies to spend millions developing treatments that would only be used by a few hundred or a few thousand patients.
The landscape changed, however, when Congress passed a bill in 1983 that created incentives for developing products for these rare, or orphan, diseases. But the Orphan Drug Act navigated a long, bumpy road before becoming law, several times appearing to be doomed. While many in the rare disease community credit increased awareness of the orphan problem to an array of groups, including Congress, industry and the news media, others give thanks to a person who, in the early '80s, was riding high with a hit TV show: actor Jack Klugman.
"There just wouldn't be an Orphan Drug Act without Jack Klugman," says Abbey Meyers, president of the National Organization for Rare Disorders. "The issue simply wouldn't be known to the public without him."
Klugman used his weekly TV medical drama, "Quincy," on two occasions to spotlight the plight of rare-disease patients, prompting a huge outpouring of support that ultimately pushed the orphan drug bill through Congress.
Meyers recalls that the situation was bleak before Klugman's involvement. Rep. Henry Waxman (D.-Calif.) had received a call in 1980 from the mother of a boy, Adam Seligman, whose drug treatment for the rare disorder Tourette syndrome had been seized at the Canadian border. Because the drug was approved in Canada but not in the United States, Adam's doctor had arranged to bring the drug from Canada for his patient. Adam's mother was frantic that her son was about to run out of medication.
For his part, Waxman held hearings to gauge the extent of the rare disease problem. Witnesses, including Adam, gave emotional testimony, but the hearings were sparsely attended. However, one person present was a reporter from the Los Angeles Times, who wrote a story about the orphan issue.
The next day, Jack Klugman's brother, Maurice, saw the Times article. He told the story to Jack, who decided to create a "Quincy" episode devoted to Tourette syndrome and the orphan problem. After it aired in March 1981, viewers responded by sending thousands of letters to Jack Klugman voicing support and asking how they could help.
With the issue now more visible, Waxman introduced an orphan drug bill and held a second hearing--this time with Klugman as a witness. With Klugman's celebrity on board, the news media covered the issue extensively, and even greater popular support followed. But when the bill stalled in Congress, Klugman put together another "Quincy" episode, this time mirroring the real-life holdup of the bill taking place on Capitol Hill. He used 500 "extras," who were real victims of orphan disorders. By the time the show aired in 1982, the House had passed the bill, but it was on hold in the Senate. It later passed but faced veto by President Reagan, in part because the administration objected to the bill's tax credits.
Rare-disease activists then took out full-page ads in major newspapers urging the president to sign the bill. It worked. On Jan. 4, 1983, the Orphan Drug Act became law.
How many shows can say they've helped change lives and influence laws?
