Parkinson

A former nurse at Franklin Square Hospital Center was arrested yesterday and charged with manslaughter in the case of an 81-year-old patient who died after her arms - which were permanently locked across her chest - were pried apart. The arrest follows an intensive investigation into what police and prosecutors say is one of the most bizarre homicides in recent Baltimore County history. The incident sparked a state investigation into procedures at Franklin Square. Police in Memphis, Tenn.

Relatives of an elderly woman who died at Franklin Square Hospital Center from injuries after her arms -- which had been locked across her chest -- were pried apart, filed a $10 million lawsuit yesterday against the hospital and the nurse they believe is responsible for her death. The lawsuit, filed yesterday in Baltimore County Circuit Court by attorney Marvin Ellin, alleges negligence and is based partly on a report by the Maryland Office of Health Care Quality. The agency launched an inquiry into practices at Franklin Square after Ruth F. Bowen died there Nov. 6. That report uncovered "moderate deficiencies" at the hospital during and shortly after Bowen's death, said Carol Benner, the agency's director.

NEW ORLEANS - An organic pesticide widely used on home-grown fruits and vegetables and for killing unwanted fish in the nation's lakes and rivers produces all the classic symptoms of Parkinson's disease in rats that receive steady amounts of the chemical in their bloodstreams, scientists said yesterday. While it is too soon to say that the pesticide, rotenone, causes or contributes to Parkinson's disease in humans, the scientists said the finding was the best evidence thus far that chemicals in the environment might be factors in the devastating disease.

As Michael J. Fox says good-bye to viewers of his hit television show "Spin City" tonight, a Columbia-based company expects to be saying hello to hundreds of thousands of his fans. iSky Inc., a customer relationship management company, is fielding calls and manning the Web site as donations come to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, which was launched yesterday."We're going to be handling the foundation's inquiries and contributors," said Rich Hebert, president and chief executive officer of iSKY.

Biotechnology giant Amgen Inc. said yesterday that it has begun human testing of an experimental nerve regeneration drug to treat Parkinson's disease.The drug was licensed in August 1997 from Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Baltimore, which in turn had licensed it from the Johns Hopkins University.The amount Guilford receives will depend on how many neuro-degenerative conditions can be successfully treated with the drugs, which are based on compounds known as neuroimmunophilins.Amgen is interested in using the compounds to treat 10 medical conditions, ranging from traumatic brain and spinal injuries to multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

If any actor seemed forever young, it was Michael J. Fox. Even at 37, the star of "Spin City" seemed capable of riding back to the future on a skateboard.Now he tells us he has Parkinson's disease, a progressive brain disorder that in time brings a shuffling gait, trembling hands, a stooped posture and stiff movements. As he arrives in Baltimore today to promote the Port Discovery children's museum at an invitation-only celebration, fans are still trying to process how Fox managed to keep his disease private for seven years -- looking youthful all the way.When he first heard about Fox's illness, Dr. Paul S. Fishman, a Parkinson's specialist at the University of Maryland Medical Center, made a point of watching "Spin City" to see whether the energetic actor showed any signs of the disease.

WASHINGTON -- Wednesday night, helpers wheeled Christopher Reeve up a long ramp in a hotel meeting room and then turned him deliberately and dramatically toward a throng of philanthropists. He squinted through the low-slung chandeliers, seemingly impassive, while the crowd rose to shower him with sustained applause.Mr. Reeve, once a dashing star, now is a dashing head. This may sound horrible, but it's true. Nothing below the neck moves of its own accord. Attendants must strap his body to a tall, stiff chair.

Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc. said yesterday that it plans to launch late-stage human clinical trials in the United States later this year of its diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease.The Baltimore-based company said it decided to move ahead with starting the trials because recent clinical data showed the test is highly accurate in differentiating people with a Parkinsonian disorder from people without the disease.Currently, there is no reliable test for diagnosing early-stage Parkinson's disease, a degenerative brain disease that causes tremors, stiffness and difficulty moving.

Animal studies offer hope that drugs similar to the ones that revolutionized organ transplants are capable of repairing nerves damaged by Parkinson's and other degenerative diseases, a Johns Hopkins scientist said yesterday.Dr. Solomon Snyder, director of neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said the class of drugs restored movement in mice and rats suffering from a Parkinson's-like syndrome. The medications caused damaged nerve cells to regrow the long projections that help transmit impulses from the brain to muscles and limbs.

ROME -- Vatican officials, in private conversations, now make it clear that Pope John Paul II has a form of Parkinson's disease, with one saying last week that an announcement confirming the pope's ailment "could be coming shortly."As the pope, 76, continues his recovery from an appendectomy performed Tuesday, attention again has turned to his slow, shuffling step and the persistent tremor in his left hand. Experts have long seen these symptoms as evidence that he has Parkinson's, a progressively disabling disorder caused by the deterioration of nerve cells in the brain.