ADI LUKAS KURNIAWAN

M507104029

Reflection Paper “Extraordinary Measure”

The movie Extraordinary Measures is an inspirational movie about a father and his quest to find the
right medication for his two children that are suffering from Pompe disease. Pompe disease is
neuromuscular disorder, which is described as uniformly fatal in its most severe form, creates a
deficiency of an enzyme that converts stored sugar or glycogen to glucose. Without that enzyme, the
glycogen builds up in the body and damages the heart and other muscles. Children with this disease
normally die at around age nine, at that stage the organs enlarge. Searching for a way to help his
children, there was a scientist, Dr. Robert Stonehill, who is developing a treatment. The therapy on
which he's working includes genetic and molecular techniques that allow the body to use a replacement
enzyme so it can process stored sugar, improving muscular function as well as heart, liver and lung
function.

In the movie John Crowley, the father of the children is caught up emotionally with finding a cure that
there is a huge disagreement between him and the company executives. When the company had
completed the process and it was time to test the medication, it caused a major conflict of interest.
There was a conflict of interest because John Crowley had a vested interest in the company and he also
had an interest in the success of the product. Of course he wanted his children to have the medication
first. To solve the issue, he was fired from the company.

As for potential conflicts of interest, they frequently arise in research and medicine, but this should not
automatically exclude someone from participating, especially if "all qualifications are met." However,
pointing out the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and institutional review boards, which oversee
clinical trials, might fear that a family member so closely involved in a trial could bias the results.

Supporting Reference
 Los Angeles Times. 'Extraordinary Measures' gets some parts of true story right.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/08/health/la-he-unreal8-2010feb08