November 12, 2003
Mr. Rino Aldrighetti
Executive Director
Pulmonary Hypertension Association
850 Sligo Avenue
Suite 800
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Cc: Dr. Michael McGoon
Dear Mr. Aldrighetti,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write us regarding
our recent episode featuring a patient with Primary Pulmonary Hypertension.
We appreciate your feedback and regret any concern we might have caused
patients with this rare and serious disease.
Although we did consult a specialist in developing this
story, one thing we try to do on our show is portray the perspective
of emergency physicians at a county hospital. I think it's realistic
to assume that an inner city emergency physician might not be aware
of all the therapies available to a patient with PH. Ultimately the
focus of the story was on issues of patient autonomy and truth-telling,
not on the prognosis of the disease.
Again, we greatly appreciate your input. We recognize
the capacity for ER to educate the public about diseases and we take
this responsibility seriously. Hopefully we will have the opportunity
to educate viewers further about the encouraging advancements in the
treatment of PH in future storylines.
Sincerely,
Lisa Zwerling, MD
Story Editor
ER
4000 Warner Blvd
Building 103, Room 102
Burbank, CA 91522
email
