Behind the Scenes of House, M.D.

By Marsha Cohen, M.D.

The medical series on TV known as "House, M.D." after the irascible Dr. House played by British actor/comedian Hugh Laurie, is one of the most watched TV shows in recent years. Wouldn't it be wonderful to feature LAM on House?? Millions of people watch the show and the ‘exposure' for LAM would be amazing!

Since LAM is such a unique and interesting disease, I thought that it would be an excellent disease to feature on a medical show, especially one where making the diagnosis is challenging. The opportunity came when my cousin, who is a screen writer in LA for film and TV, mentioned to me that he was a good friend of one of the writers for House. I asked how we might be able to get LAM featured on the show and he suggested that I work up a scenario with details of LAM: why it is unusual, how it manifests, etc. For a TV show, he said, the novelty of the illness may be of some interest: the fact that it occurs only in women, that it is difficult to make the diagnosis, that it is relatively unknown, that the signs/symptoms mimic other illnesses-these are features that might appeal to the production team at House.

I quickly wrote up a scenario outlining the main details of LAM, pulled a few key medical articles about LAM and listed relevant web sites with information about LAM. I then sent this information to my cousin who provided me with some comments. After revisions, he sent the material to the writer for House.

I heard from the writer shortly thereafter asking for more details about LAM and the name of a medical authority from whom she could get more information about the medical aspects of LAM. I sent her the email address and phone number for Dr. Frank McCormack, who subsequently had some conversations with her. She and I also had some email exchanges about various details around LAM.

Finally, Frank and I were told of the date/time that the show would be presented. Frank and I were sworn to secrecy and not allowed to tell anyone until 1 hour before the show aired. This was really, really hard as we wanted to share our excitement about the show with the LAM community! However, we respected the request as it is important for the writer not to have the content of a major TV show leaked prior to its showing.

While this is really good publicity for LAM, we need to realize that the needs of the TV show and its characters come first: therefore some ‘artistic license' is used and (unfortunately) the worst aspects of LAM may be presented.

Nonetheless, having LAM featured on a popular TV show such as House should quadruple the awareness of the disease among the public and that can only benefit all of us in the LAM Community!

[Marsha Cohen, M.D. wrote this before actually seeing the episode]

Click here to read an article where Marsha Cohen was interviewed after the episode was aired.

If you missed the first airing of this episode, please check your local listings for additional airings. This episode will be available for on-line viewing on 10/29/08 at the following site: http://www.fox.com/fod/play.php?sh=house.

Click here to read our Press Release.

A word of caution to LAM patients and their loved ones: The LAM Foundation and its representatives had no control over the content of this episode of House, M.D. Due to the dramatic nature of this show, this presentation may portray LAM in its most dire manifestations.

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