Two years ago my wife was given a death sentence. We were not in a court of law and my wife had not committed any crime, but rather we were in a small aseptic office of a neurologist at the University of Miami. He said that my wife had Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS) and that it was incurable and fatal. "Incurable" means that they haven't found a cure for it yet, and it was likely to remain incurable because there are only about 30,000 cases in the U.S. and this is a relatively unpopular disease when it comes to government funding for research. Because of the restrictions that the FDA places on drug companies, few companies can afford to run test programs on new drugs. It is interesting that the only company I know of that is currently testing a new drug is based in France.
When I think of the millions of dollars that are spent each year on funding appeals for convicted murders on death row, it makes me wonder what might happen if as much money were spent on finding a cure for the 30,000 ALS patients, who never murdered anyone, who are sitting on death row.
Recently, I had occasion to think about the fact that it is too bad that in the 1960s the Soviet union didn't try to find a cure for muscular diseases instead of putting a man in space, and the U.S. took up the challenge to not let the Russians beat us in finding a cure.
Let us, for a moment, assume that some foreign power was holding 30,000 American citizens hostage and would execute 10,000 of them each year if their demands were not met. Perhaps our government would give Jerry Lewis permission to hold a telethon for their benefit? I think not. They would be willing tot spend billions for the welfare of those hostages.
My wife's death sentence was recently carried out in the quiet of our bedroom. No protesters with signs outside standing a vigil to object. I realize that the things that I have mentioned above are all unrelated and are perhaps the ravings of a heartbroken man. Our government didn't really execute my wife - or did they?
John L. (Jack) O'Leary
Palm City