“FDA APPROVAL OF THE FIRST TREATMENT FOR ALS”
(LOU GEHRIG’S DISEASE)
ORBIS RADIO NEWS REPORTS ARE AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE, 24 HOURS A DAY, 7
DAYS A WEEK. TO ACCESS A REPORT CALL 1-800-76-ORBIS.
FOR THIS PARTICULAR REPORT DIAL THE 6 DIGIT NUMBER 950355.
BACKGROUND:
FOR THE APPROXIMATELY 30,000 AMERICANS WITH ALS — A FATAL NEUROMUSCULAR
DISORDER — THERE IS HOPE TONIGHT!!!
FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE FDA HAS APPROVED A DRUG TO TREAT ALS — ALSO
KNOWN AS LOU GEHRIG’S DISEASE. THERE HAS BEEN NO TREATMENT SINCE THE
DISORDER WAS FIRST IDENTIFIED MORE THAN 125 YEARS AGO — UNTIL NOW.
ACCORDING TO DOCTORS, THIS NEW DRUG, CALLED RILUTEK EXTENDS THE LIVES OF
ALS PATIENTS.
ALS WAS MADE FAMOUS BY BASEBALL LEGEND LOU GEHRIG — BUT ANYONE CAN GET
THIS DISEASE. ALS IS A FATAL DISORDER THAT CAUSES PROGRESSIVE MUSCLE
PARALYSIS. IT ROBS PATIENTS OF THEIR ABILITY TO DRESS THEMSELVES, EAT,
WALK AND SPEAK. PATIENTS GENERALLY SURVIVE THREE TO FIVE YEARS AFTER
BEING DIAGNOSED, WITH DEATH GENERALLY OCCURING DUE TO RESPIRATORY FAILURE.
THIS ORBIS RADIO NEWS SPECIAL REPORT INCLUDES A COMPELLING INTERVIEW WITH
A 39 YEAR OLD MAN, AND FATHER OF FOUR, WHO WAS DIAGNOSED WITH ALS TWO
YEARS AGO. IT ALSO INCLUDES AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. JEFFREY ROTHSTEIN OF
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY. DR. ROTHSTEIN WAS INVOLVED IN THE CLINICAL
TRIALS OF RILUTEK, AND IS VERY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE DRUG.
THIS NEWS PACKAGE AND ACCOMPANYING B-ROLL ALSO INCLUDES ACTUAL FOOTAGE OF
LOU GEHRIG PLAYING BASEBALL FOR THE NEW YORK YANKEES, AS WELL AS A CLIP
FROM HIS FAMOUS “FAREWELL SPEECH.” THERE IS ALSO FOOTAGE OF ALS PATIENTS.
THE APPROVAL OF RILUTEK WAS ONE OF THE QUICKEST F-D-A APPROVALS — AND IS
AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT STORY — BOTH FOR THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY, AND THOSE
AFFLICTED WITH ALS.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL MARIZOL SOTO AT 312-942-1199 EXT. 161.
SUGGESTED LEAD-IN: FOR THE APPROXIMATELY 30,000 AMERICANS WITH ALS, A
FATAL NEUROMUSCULAR DISORDER, THERE IS HOPE TONIGHT. FOR THE FIRST TIME,
THE FDA HAS APPROVED A DRUG TO TREAT ALS — ALSO KNOWN AS LOU GEHRIG’S
DISEASE. THERE HAS BEEN NO TREATMENT SINCE THE DISORDER WAS FIRST
IDENTIFIED MORE THAN 125 YEARS AGO — UNTIL NOW. ACCORDING TO MEDICAL
REPORTER RENI MITCHELL, THIS NEW DRUG CAN EXTEND THE LIVES OF ALS
PATIENTS.
BASEBALL LEGEND LOU GEHRIG WAS THE VICTIM OF AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL
SCLEROSIS, OR ALS — A FATAL DISORDER THAT CAUSES PROGRESSIVE MUSCLE
PARALYSIS. ANYONE CAN GET LOU GEHRIG’S DISEASE. FRANK PULEO WAS JUST 36
YEARS OLD WHEN HE WAS DIAGNOSED ALS…
“Here I am, not even forty yet. I’ve got four kids, and I’m thinking
maybe I have less than two years, maybe I have less than five years. It
isn’t fair.”
FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE F-D-A HAS APPROVED A DRUG THAT TREATS LOU
GEHRIG’S DISEASE. ACCORDING TO DR. JEFFREY ROTHSTEIN OF JOHNS HOPKINS
UNIVERSITY, RILUTEK, DEVELOPED BY RHONE-POULENC RORER, IS THE ONLY DRUG
THAT HAS BEEN SHOWN TO EXTEND THE LIVES OF PATIENTS WITH ALS…
“For more than a hundred years, we’ve known about this disease…and
Rilutek is the first drug that…provides a positive outcome for
patients.”
ALS ROBS PATIENTS OF THEIR ABILITY TO DRESS THEMSELVES, EAT, WALK AND
SPEAK. PATIENTS GENERALLY SURVIVE THREE TO FIVE YEARS AFTER BEING
DIAGNOSED, WITH DEATH OCCURING DUE TO RESPIRATORY FAILURE.
“I’m in a race against time. And if there’s something there that will
slow the clock up — by God, let’s use it.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CALL MARIZOL SOTO AT 312-942-1199 EXT. 161.