Michael J. Fox pitches for Parkinson's research
September 28, 1999
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Marshaling all the publicity a Hollywood star can
focus on Capitol Hill, actor Michael J. Fox pleaded the case Tuesday for
more funding in a cause he holds dear, research on Parkinson's disease.
Fox was among several speakers who appeared before a session of three
United States Senate subcommittees on Tuesday to push for greater
funding of research and treatment for Parkinson's.
He's requesting that an additional $75 million of taxpayer money be
spent on Parkinson's research. The National Institutes of Health
projects that it will spend $81.5 million on Parkinson's research in
fiscal year 2000, up from a projected $78 million this year and $65.5
million in 1998.
Federal funds for Parkinson's research grew from $26 million in 1989 to
$35.7 million in 1997.
Reflecting on his position in society and his cause, Fox said in his
testimony, "What celebrity has given me is the opportunity to raise the
visibility of Parkinson's disease and focus more attention on the
desperate need for more research dollars. ... I was shocked and
frustrated to learn that the amount of federal funding is so meager.
Compared with the amount of federal funding going to other diseases,
research funding for Parkinson's lags far behind."
'Almost like a moonshot'
The Canadian-born actor, now 38, established an enduring popularity in
the 1980s sitcom "Family Ties." He's made a critically lauded return to
the small screen with his lead role in the ABC political sitcom "Spin
City." Fox revealed nearly a year ago that he has battled the disease
since 1991.
He's among several public figures, including U.S. Attorney General Janet
Reno and country singer Johnny Cash who are known to have been diagnosed
with Parkinson's, a degenerative nervous-system disease. It leads to a
shortage of a chemical called dopamine, needed to control movement. A
tremor is the most commonly recognized effect associated with
Parkinson's.
Arguing that a cure clearly is attainable, Fox told reporters Wednesday
after his appearance before the Labor, Health and Human Services and
Education subcommittees that helping Parkinson's sufferers was "almost
like a moonshot," and called for a clear time frame to be set as a goal.
"People in this country," Fox said, "said in X amount of years, we're
going to put a man on the moon. Within X amount of years, we can with a
good degree of certainty say that we can cure Parkinson's, and open the
door to Huntington's and similar neurological disorders."
Celebrities on Capitol Hill
With his appearance, Fox becomes the latest entertainment personality to
lobby for increased support and funding for government research into
health issues. Christopher Reeve has also appeared before Congress -- in
February 1996, 10 months after a horse-riding accident left him
paralyzed, he argued for more scientific research.
"This isn't some strange kind of exotic thing that's difficult to
understand where we have no markers in terms of where to go," Fox told
reporters.
"There's a path that's already been started on that will lead very
quickly to a cure for Parkinson's," he said, "and by curing Parkinson's,
open the way for gigantic breakthroughs in other neurological illnesses.
We just need to stop for a second and focus on it and dedicate some
consistent funding toward it and it can be done."
Also present at the hearing were Gerald Fischbach, medical director of
the National Institute of Neurological Disorders at the National
Institutes of Health; J. William Langston, president of the Parkinson's
Institute; Joan Samuelson, president of the Parkinson's Action Network;
and Jim Cordy, a Pittsburgh resident who suffers from Parkinson's
disease.
© 1999 Cable News Network.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
[log in to unmask]
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