Gentlemen, you are about to enter the most fascinating sphere of police work, the world of forensic medicine. I'm going to get that creep in my short course in manners. You coming? No! Die! Let die! What's going on? You don't want to come? Stay! I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm coming! Hey, Randy, come on! Let's split! Leave the dude be! You scared him enough! Where is he? Where'd he go? He's in there. I sure wouldn't want to be that guy right now. Randy, come on, let's go! Randy, come on, let's go! The body is out of a male Caucasian, age about 19. Height, 6 feet. Weight, 170 pounds. Average musculature. The victim has sustained a number of abrasions and confusions, notably on the right hip, thigh, and lower leg. There's a simple fracture of the clavicle. Help me turn him over, will you? Well, there's the real damage. Broken neck. Yeah. It's a deep laceration. May the Lord help. Seven centimeters in length. The back of his neck. Spinal column is fractured dislocated. That's the fifth and sixth cervical vertebra. An apparent result of severe blunt force trauma. What about the lines here? There's a pattern injury with six evenly spaced linear abraded lines on the posterior surface of the affected vertebra. Wow, what a wallop he took. He broke like a china doll. What did the police say? Well, let's see. Well, it was an incident at a movie theater. The victim was rowdy and shouting obscenities. Provoked an argument with another teenager. A couple of boys chased him from the theater. That's all they know. Oh, not quite all. Glad to see you're already on the Rosenthal murder. Would you mind not calling it a murder until we complete our autopsy? Well, we just got a statement from one of the guys who chased the victim down. Well, take a look at this injury right here on the... Now Quincy, if you don't mind, huh? You come over here and talk. Now one of his buddies said he picked up a pipe and went after him. Someone actually witnessed it? Oh, not the murder itself, but he saw his friend go in there, heard the screams, saw him up in a scaffolding holding this. Picked up this little party favor in the sewer next to where it happened. Now this is the pipe he used. Do you have any idea where he is? Oh, I'd say so, yeah. Third floor, West Wing County Jail. We just came back from booking him. But you didn't get a confession? Oh, no, not yet. He said he didn't even touch the kid. He said he was just trying to scare him. Must have fell or something. Oh, listen, we'll be wanting the tax results as soon as you get them. By the way, we heard he was really flying the victim. I mean, putting that in the plane. Well, if he was on something, we'll find it out. Would you do me a favor? Keep the crime scene roped off a little longer? See, you even called it a crime scene, Quincy. Lieutenant, anytime somebody dies this young, before his life is at a chance, that's a crime. Stick around. Sam will give you a receipt for the pipe. Nope. No blood or skin on the pipe. Of course you'd expect that. The water from the sewer would have washed it clean in minutes. It looks like the kid is guilty. The threads on the pipe match the striations we saw on the body. Ed, do me a favor, will you? Yes. See if the electron microscope is free. Sure, Doc. Sam, I want the tissue around the primary wound trimmed and prepared for scanning EM. I'll see what the pipe got behind. Okay, take a look at this. We got traces of a drug after all. Hello, Peridot. Point zero zero one micrograms per annum. Hello, Peridot. I don't think I've ever come across that before. Ludwig Karman, scientific psychotic agent using and treating schizophrenia. If the boy was schizophrenic, that might explain the bizarre behavior. Yeah, but it still wouldn't explain why he died. Dr. Quincy, take a look at this. The particles of zincs were out the wound four or five times as much as there was iron. But we tested that pipe that Monahan brought in. There was no zinc plating on it. The D.A.'s foundation just slid down a hill. If the pipe didn't kill the boy, what did? Let's take another look at that construction site. We'll have lunch on the way. Ah, Quincy, you know, it's not working my lunch hard that I mind. It's just that I don't think my stomach can take that drive in you're always driving me to. Hotburn Haven, I thought you loved it. But that was 80 burgers ago. It's an acquired taste. I get better after 100. Let's go. Oh, fair. This was sticking out over the spot where he fell. The skin and the blood matched the victims. The pipe you found has the same diameter and the same threading, but it's a gas pipe. This one carries water. It's galvanized. Zinc plated. Which masses of zinc we found? That's the whole ballgame, Lieutenant. Nobody struck Jeff Rosensohn with the instrument that killed him. He struck it. And the kid we're holding is telling the truth. He never did hit Rosensohn. Then why'd he throw the pipe away? I don't know. Maybe he panicked when he saw the dead boy. For all we know, he meant to hurt him, but fate beat him to it. Well, I guess that's it. I'll let the D.A. worry about the charges. At least we know it wasn't murder. Thanks, Quincy. See you later, Quincy. Sam, there's a present for you. Well, Sam, that wraps up the Rosenthal case. I'm not so sure, Quincy. Dr. Astin wants to see you in his office. A Dr. Chati's there. What does he want? He wants Jeffrey Rosenthal's brain. What? Were you the boy's doctor? No, I know Jeff through my son, Tony. They were only friends for a couple of months, but they were very close. Oh, come on in. Dr. Quincy, Dr. Arthur Chati. How do you do, sir? Gentlemen. If you weren't the boy's doctor, I'm not sure why you're here. I have to know about the boy's brain. What condition is it in? Well, it wasn't directly damaged in the fall. Why? You examined it? Just a minute. Dr. Chati, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to explain in more detail exactly what this is all about. Yes, of course. I'm sorry. Eleven years ago, when my son was seven years old, he started getting ticks. Facial grimaces, a head shaking, that sort of thing. Well, I was a GP at the time, and I'd seen enough transient ticks in children, so Marie and I, my wife was alive then. We weren't particularly worried. But then the ticks became more intense and vocalizations started. That's when we started seeing specialists. I don't know if you gentlemen have any children, but it's a terrible thing for a doctor not to know what's wrong with his own son. But no one knew. Not for five years did we know. It turned out to be Tourette's syndrome. Tourette's, of course. What kind of symptoms are we talking about? Chronic multiple ticks. They wax and wane, they change location, and they're always accompanied by involuntary vocalizations. Sounds, throat clearing, puckering, foul language. That's right, that's present in about half of Tourette's victims. With my son Tony, it's just noises. Anyway, a special ed teacher introduced Jeff to my son, and I watched him closely for a couple of months. It was definitely Tourette's syndrome. And you want to examine his brain? It's a rare opportunity. Ever since I found out about my son's problem, I've devoted my professional life to trying to find a cure. Right now I'm doing research for Leisure Pharmaceuticals. But you see, there are no animal models for Tourette research. That's why having tissue from a victim would be invaluable. As far as organ donations are concerned, there's not much we can do without the parents' consent. Now I have to invite the Rosenthal's out to my lab. I want them to see a film of Tourette patients. It's important that they understand the value that their gift could have. Our best evidence indicates that it's some disorder of the central nervous system, some imbalance that interferes with the ability to inhibit movement and sound. Can the movements be suppressed at all? It's pretty exhausting, but they can be controlled. It takes total concentration. And even then the symptoms get put off and released at a better time. Oh. Oh. Ticks, okay, maybe. But I still can't believe Jeff's profanity was something physical. But you have to understand it's a breakdown of the inhibition system. Jeff could no more control what he said than he could control his movements, and what he was most afraid of blurting out, offensive language, was just where he could control the least. All we wanted was for Jeffrey to get better. What more could we do? We went to professionals, teachers, and doctors. Just lost my only child, and he's telling me he was some kind of a medical freak. Mrs. Rosenthal, please, please. I have some idea of the hell that you're talking about. I know how cruel people can be to a child who's not like the rest, who can't keep still, who's terrified of quiet places because he knows they won't be quiet once he's there. I know about the looks, the name calling, the nights you hear him cry himself to sleep. I'm just as angry as you are, and most of the time I feel just as helpless. But you see, if we're going to do anything about it, I need your help. And so does that young man you just saw. Jeffrey would have wanted it. Okay. Thank you. You know, when I see a film like this, I thank God the scientists of your caliber are working on an answer. Except, you're the only drug company that'll touch it, and even my budget's been cut to the bone. I don't understand it. Why aren't they interested? Simple economics. Say there are, what, 100,000 Tourette victims in the country. Oh, with the millions of dollars that it takes to develop a new drug, and the limited patent on it, if you do, the manufacturers feel that they can't even recover their investment, let alone turn a profit. But your company's still funding you. They're just hoping I'll come up with a more lucrative cure. I don't kid myself, Dr. Quincy, there are no angels of mercy in my boardroom. So if you've got a disease that happens to have a low incidence, don't count on the pharmaceutical companies for any help. Like I said, I'm the exception. You think of the fortunes that some of them make. That's why they call them orphan drugs, miracles, the cures for rare diseases that no one wants to adopt. Well, isn't there a bill before Congress that's supposed to deal with all this? The orphan drug bill, it's still being considered. My son is going to testify. I'd love for you to meet him. I'm looking forward to it. Is there hope that it will still pass? Well, there are only 10 days left in this Congress, and my friends in Washington tell me that a lame duck lays no eggs. But if they don't act quickly, that bill will die. And so will a lot of people's hopes. The door was open. I knocked, but of course you couldn't hear me. I'm Dr. Quincy. Oh, hi. My dad's not home right now. Is it the story? He should be back in a few minutes. Actually, I came to see you. I have never heard Chopin played more beautifully. Thanks. I can only learn to walk and talk. Part of the strange sense of humor kind of goes with the territory. You know about the Tourette's, don't you? Yes, your father told me. Yeah, well, you work with them? No, I'm an acquaintance, a new one. Can I get you something? A cup of coffee? It wouldn't be too much trouble. No, not at all. Could you do me a favor? Could you tell my dad that you're looking up the statute on forcing your kid to play Chopin 10 hours a day? Why all the practice? What, you haven't said anything? No. Well, I think he bragged just a little bit. I've been tentatively accepted into the Larkin Conservatory. Wow, that's one of the top music schools in the country. Congratulations. Well, thanks, but I haven't quite made it there yet. I still have to play the Chopin in front of the panel and the judging committee. After what I just heard, you'll sweep him right off his feet. Well, there's a man with taste. Tony, I hate to even bring this up. It's about Jeff Rosenbaum. What, Jeff? Yeah. Did you ever give him any of your medication, specifically haloperidol? Jeff had asked me about it, and he thought it might help... help him. Why? We found traces of haloperidol on Jeff's body. What, what? Well, it had nothing to do with the cause of his death. It's one of those puzzles I'm trying to figure out. Are we talking... are we talking about the same Jeff, Jeff Rosenthal? Yeah. Don't... don't scare me. Uh... he's not dead. Tony, I'm sorry. I thought you knew. Not your fault, Dr. Quincy. It's mine. I should have told you. I'm sorry. I guess I better go. I'm sorry, Tony. What... what happened? It was an accident. So that's why you... that's why you cut me chained to the piano? Because you were afraid I'd blow the damn audition? What do you want me to do? I can't bring him back. I want you to stop protecting me. I want you to stop throwing yourself in front of me every time I'm about to step into an open manhole. I don't want to see you get hurt. Is that a crime? If I get hurt, I get hurt! That is my problem. It is not yours. I've got to live with it. Or I die with it the way Jeff did. No, no, I can't take that. I'm your father. What do you want me to do? Just... just sit around here and say, well, it's his life. If he dies, he dies. No! This is crazy. Tony, I know... I know you have to work through this. But why don't I call Mr. Anders at the conservatory and tell him this is not a good time? I'm sure he'll agree to postpone the audition a week or two. Who's asking you? Who the hell is asking you? Can I please make a decision for myself, please? Tony, do we have to fight about everything? Look, I don't want to postpone the audition. I want to see you tomorrow at 3.30. And I'm going to be there. Thank you, Miss Sun. Hello? Chiare? You may proceed, Mr. Chiare. Have your paying. Oh Oh The whole project just like that I can't believe it Sam and I were getting ready to send you those brain tissues Well by all means send them maybe the last important research I do Unless I can find some other funding they give you a reason Oh Oh several all of them preceded by dollar signs In your company president isn't his name Prager. Yes. Have you met him? Not in person, but a few years back one of their drugs was accused of causing a coronary in a young woman I seem to remember that it went to court didn't that's right. My autopsy proved. It was a congenital defect Not the drug. He told me then he owed me one Maybe it's time to pick up the IOU. I'll talk to you later. Thank You It's a pleasure dr. Quincy I Still started to think where we'd be if you hadn't done your job so expertly. Thank you I know another scientist who's just as professional shot. He's a good man crack researcher Nobody wanted to lose him, but it was his choice Maybe you could still talk some sense. Oh, I'm not here to arbitrate sir. Just alert Thank you Arthur said you were interested in the Tourette's research. I'm more interested in why it ended. It was a management decision Sounds terribly cold, but it would have been fiscally irresponsible to let it go on Years ago Pharmaceutical houses brought out a lot more what they called service or prestige drugs sold them at a loss But at a tolerable loss We can't afford that anymore Have you any inkling of what it costs to bring a new drug into the marketplace? So a disease like Tourette's syndrome can be blue penciled by an accountant Unfortunately, yes, it happens. But where's the dividing line, sir? What the dividing line who gets help and who doesn't how many victims are enough? How many victims are enough how many cries before they're heard a million to me? Dr. Quincy, I I don't like the situation any more than you or dr. Chiotti But we simply can't afford these orphan drugs. I find that term a little loaded but it is accurate Isn't it you main consideration doesn't come up when you decide which areas to pursue There are certain things that better handled by other institutions Medical schools research centers almost every major breakthrough drug in the last 20 years has been developed through your industry Oh, what would you have us do make the payroll with IOUs? Oh, of course not, but isn't there a way you can produce the drug with what you call a tolerable loss? Possibly if there weren't for two things standing in the way Congress and the FDA. I Think if you look a little further, you'll find that our shackles were forged in Washington and we didn't invent the regulations We just have to run fast enough to keep ahead of them. Oh, maybe I am here to arbitrate What if they met you halfway cut the red tape? I'll cover your costs. Oh if that happened, sure We'd probably reevaluate involvement with the service drugs. Thank you for your time, sir. Well Dr. Quincy, you're dreaming You're dreaming you're not the first one to ever accuse me of that I Don't hear you playing much. Oh, I'm very much like Look I know we've been through this before But I can still call mr. Anders and explain about the audition and ask him to give you another chance like You said we've been through this before I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I dropped it. I did I Quit my job today What Mr. Prager called me in and told me they are eliminating the entire Tourette research program Oh They were willing to keep me on in the most over budgeted over research division and you said no, of course Tony, you know, I can't abandon the research Of course because that would be like abandoning me I Didn't say that But that's what it comes down to Dad, what are you gonna? What are you gonna do? Well, you're gonna open a lab in the basement Dr. Chiatis homemade miracle cures. I'll find another job But it can't be just any other job it's got to be Tourette's right what's the matter with that? Oh, that's terrific That's just terrific. Tony when you listen I'm not only lousing up my life, I'm lousing up your life too I'm a newcomer to this whole area and the more I find out the more disheartened I become Some ways I agree with you coffee. Oh, thank you Davis if you'll forgive me your agency seems to be a big part of this problem Dr. Chiatis Tourette research ended because his pharmaceutical company felt they couldn't absorb the cost of complying with the FDA's regulations Food and drug does have the strictest drug development standards in the world and I'm not about to apologize for it You remember the thalidomide trities of the early 60s when college decided to make sure it never happened again Well, the standards are rough, but our mandate is to protect the health and safety of the public Well, nobody could argue against exhaustive testing if the drug is going to be widely used But shouldn't there be another standard for a small patient population like Tourette's that's a judgment Congress will have to make but who's gonna bother with? The orphans and it's not just Tourette's it's Huntington's disease and myasthenia Gravis and sickle cell anemia And literally dozens of low incidence diseases and millions of people I mean millions. So what do we tell him? Hey, why don't you trade in what you have for a more common affliction or do we drown them? Dr. Quincy the FDA isn't blind to this problem We do everything we can to encourage the development of these drugs, but we can't develop them It has to happen in the private sector But just last year a major drug company got approval for a drug that treats a rare tumor one Miss Davis, one How many are totally ignored by the best minds and the best facilities in pharmacology? facilities and pharmacology obviously quite a few Look If we wanted to expedite the approval process selectively, I mean we'd have to have Congress behind us and the drug companies, too We can't approve a drug that's not submitted Okay, tell me this would the FDA budget Congress did if they passed the often drug bill Off the record doctor, I think the agency would do their part if everyone else did thank you miss Davis The doctor Quincy That's a big if I'll give you a bigger if What's gonna happen to these poor people if nobody does anything about this problem? Nobody does anything about this problem Tony I'm home I got a couple of surprises for you. Dr. Quincy's with me and I got your favorite cannoli from Lamastas I got your favorite cannoli from Lamastas What is it Dear dad, I decided I had to be on my own right now I've messed things up enough for you already Don't worry We'll come looking for me I love Tony A lot of well-meaning people have approached me on this bill, Dr. Quincy. It's not as if I'm not sympathetic Just that well, I'm not sure what the whole thing is. Just a lot of window dressing Believe me congressman. I wouldn't have come all the way up here to talk to you about window dressing or theories I have some concrete proposals from the best authorities I could find I'd still like to know how the drug companies are gonna break even on a drug with only a hundred thousand customers By everybody pitching in carrying their share of the burden including you lawmakers You can start with tax incentives and loan guarantees Help subsidize the enormous cost of clinical testing cover their liability insurance And if they make a profit on the drug they pay the government back that way everybody's a winner And if the patent laws don't run long enough extend them Congress can do that and that'll balance their books No Not by itself. No the FDA has to help There is no reason why an orphan drug has to cost 50 million dollars now. They should do something about that All right. What about the pharmaceutical industry? Like I said, everybody has to carry their load If I could only be sure we could pay for this brave new world of yours We pay now and we're getting ourselves a bargain Right now we are paying for a lifetime of disability for a Tourette victim now you multiply that by 100,000 and that by a score of orphan diseases and you tell me what we can afford and what we can't afford You realize of course that this session of Congress is almost over our time is running out Maybe we can beat that clock if we don't run out Oh Hope I didn't wake you oh no. No, I was trying to balance my checkbook Why do we always think we have more money than we do just once? I'd like to be ten dollars richer than I thought Oh, yeah, well don't let me interrupt. Okay. What's it? That's not enough. I'm all right To talk to your father. Um, no, that's that's partly why I'm here. I Want you to want you to Want you to tell him I'm okay. All right, let him know I'm all things are all right, you'd be relieved I'm not ready to come home yet. Yeah, please just say Let's look let's look at about 15 different places before I Before I found the one I wanted you know really right No, they're not I talk about it I had a I had a taste of freedom and it's not at all what I thought it would be People crossing the street To avoid me I was I was in a park and There's this this this kid, uh So so boy came running up to me and uh, his mother he she hit him Spanked him and told him stay away from them. Stay away from drunks Where I went looking for an apartment They uh, they thought I was either crazy or a junkie Ignorance can be very cruel You think I have a thick enough skin to take off my pants? They're crazy or a junkie ignorance can be very cruel. You think I have a thick enough skin to take it after all these years Wouldn't you that what you want Tony a thicker skin? ever since I started ever since I found out about Jeff I Been like I felt like a walking time bomb or something Just just waiting to explode and I I I don't know maybe I have already did I mean I ruined my audition right for the music. I Made my dad lose his job. It wasn't you're doing you know that Tired of being a burden on everybody Tony Tony for reasons that make all the sense in the world You can only see the bleak side of things the herd is overwhelming everything else Not because you're weak by if everyone had your strength, we wouldn't need armies Tony there are so many roads to travel so many things to accomplish things only you can do Such as such as going back before that judging panel and playing show Pondola hair stands up on the back of their heads like going To Washington the day after tomorrow and showing those politicians the richness they'll be squandering if they continue to ignore such often diseases as Tourette's If they continue to ignore that Tony Chiotti What if I blow it again? No, no the only way you can blow it is if you begin to value yourself the way those people you describe value you You give up and you blow it you surrender and you get a handicap you may never overcome But you get in there and you fight head-to-head toe-to-toe and Tony the sky is the limit Tony Sorry if I scared you No, I'm I'm happy you're home I just stopped by to visit I've got a little place near Echo Park Oh Well I'd like to see it I mean when you When Whenever you want me You job hunting? I'm putting together a little resume yeah Nothing in the classifieds for Tourette's researchers? Hard to believe I'll create my own job if I have to Well I guess we're both gonna I guess we're both gonna have to get used to being on our own I mean it's gonna happen one time in school anyway Are you thinking about Larkin? I'm thinking about Larkin I'm thinking about Larkin I'm thinking about Larkin I'm thinking about Larkin Are you thinking about Larkin? Well Well I I would like another chance to audition yeah I would like another chance to audition yeah Tell me That's wonderful I can tell you What made you change your mind? I don't really know I don't really know You could ask Dr. Quincy I'll call Andrews right now I'll call Andrews right now Just as soon as we get back from Washington I'm so proud of you That's the Halle Peridot isn't it? That's the Halle Peridot isn't it? I'll be okay once I get up there concentrated I better go see when they want you You alright? I feel like I just swallowed a butterfly collection Well you're gonna be fine Mr. Tani Chiani please Mr. Tani Chiani please Thanks I made some notes But in the interest of trying to avoid reading my own handwriting I'll try to wing it I've got my problems but lack of spontaneity has never been one of them Tourette syndrome is one of my problems Tourette syndrome is one of my problems And it's a doozy And it's a doozy The symptoms started When I was about seven And unless I'm asleep Or concentrating at the piano Or other passions I get ticked other passions i get text and uh... my speech comes complete with sound effects uh... i could get into the physical symptoms they're they're pretty gruesome but the metal anguish that that's the worst part being the object of laughter and sometimes even hate being told by your teachers to shut up when there's nothing you'd rather do but you can't but even that's not the worst part the worst part is that nobody believes that you've even got a disease you hear things like cote tony he just wants attention or uh... if i had a kid like him i could straighten him out with a few swift kicks you get so you almost envy people in wheelchairs because at least nobody questions their handicap well maybe i should have stuck with my notes uh... because i i really didn't come here to talk about myself i'm one of the lucky ones i'm not sure i realized it until recently but i've got the world by the tail compared to a lot of people i have a girlfriend who appreciates my sense of humor my father who loves me and some pretty great friends i'm thinking about the other victims not just a Tourette's but anyone who is unlucky enough to have a disease that never made it to the top forty i'm thinking about a girl my age with myoclonus it's another movement disorder she gets her medication from a veterinary supply house chemical that isn't even pharmaceutically pure because no drug company wants an edsel and here we're talking about an orphan drug that exists what chance does a wilson's or a Tay-Sachs disease have when all the drug companies are tripping over each other trying to come up with a better diet pill or a better sleeping pill the truth is that the only real chance of research money going to these diseases is if you the congress make the orphan drug bill a reality if you don't act please think of all the people you'll be writing off i'm thinking of my friend jeff rosenthal he had Tourette's too he was a real movie nut he loved it all laural and hardy bogey fritz lang but half the time he'd get thrown out of the theater or chased out the last time it happened he died running away how come he had to run why couldn't someone say hey stop take it easy you have as much right to be here as the rest of us we won't ignore you you're not going to be an orphan forever thanks i guess i'm done people get and