‘Duel’ of medical dramas
By Nestor U. Torre
It’s a popular ploy in the scriptwriting trade: When in need of an especially pathetic and empathetic dramatic twinge, do a medical story! From “Johnny Belinda” through “Philadelphia” to “Lorenzo’s Oil,” the TV-film landscape is full of literally painful dramas in which physically tormented protagonists contend with all sorts of dire illnesses or disabilities, and eventually surmount them.
