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Strong Medicine is an American medical drama with a focus on feminist politics, health issues and class conflict that aired on Lifetime from July 23, 2000, to February 5, 2006. It…
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Strong Medicine Notable for Patricia Richardson
Strong Medicine Notable for Patricia Richardson
Strong Medicine is an American medical drama with a focus on feminist politics, health issues and class conflict that aired on Lifetime from July 23, 2000, to February 5, 2006. It was created and produced in part by Whoopi Goldberg, who made cameos on the series, and by Tammy Ader.
Strong Medicine is an American medical drama with a focus on feminist politics, health issues and class conflict that aired on Lifetime from July 23, 2000, to February 5, 2006. It was created and produced in part by Whoopi Goldberg, who made cameos on the series, and by Tammy Ader. It starred Rosa Blasi, Janine Turner, and Patricia Richardson. It was the highest-rated original drama on basic cable in 2001.
Strong Medicine brings together the worlds of two completely different doctors, Dr. Luisa "Lu" Delgado, and Dr. Dana Stowe. Lu is a single mother running a free clinic in the inner city. Dana is a Harvard graduate and top female health specialist. The two come together when Dr. Lydia Emerson wants to combine Rittenhouse Hospital's practice with Lu's financially failing clinic to provide the best care for the patients of both doctors.
The staff and its visitors tend to be racially, politically, and economically diverse. A core class/political duality in the episodes' storylines tend to be driven by comparisons and contrasts (and often cooperation) between liberal Delgado, and her fellow women's health practitioner across the lobby, who sees paying patients and generally has more conservative values. When Dr. Dana Stowe leaves, Lu's partners include Dr. Andy Campbell and Dr. Dylan West. The show often places the characters in ironic, soul-searching situations in which they are forced to question the solidity of their personal beliefs or else cause them to fight for what they believe in.
Rosa Blasi as Dr. Luisa "Lu" Magdalena Delgado, born November 18, 1970. Delgado runs the free clinic (first the South Philly Health Clinic and, since the pilot, the Rittenhouse Health Center), and hosts a support group. Both as a friend and a doctor to many lower-class patients, Lu regularly comes face-to-face with bitterly ironic situations involving the difficulties of the lower class with government, debt, drug abuse, and exploitation. Her character exhibits a perennial cleverness which allows her to wheedle or persuade positive outcomes from seemingly hopeless cases of victimization. After her mother died of breast cancer when she was ten years-old, she was raised by her grandmother, Isabel Santana, who now lives in Puerto Rico. Lu has a son, Marc, who she had when she was 16 and raised alone. Until recently, Delgado has had no luck with a relationship. Her first boyfriend, Jack (Jeffrey D. Sams) a construction worker, dumped her, because he wasn't ready to get involved in a fatherly (or even father figure) relationship with Lu's son Marc. Lu's next boyfriend, radio show host Harry Burr (Don Michael Paul) had to leave her because his ex-wife was using their relationship to gain custody of his daughter Erin, who was also her son Marc's girlfriend. Soon after, she survived being raped by the Rittenhouse's new Head of Surgery, Dr. Randolf Kilner. She lost her first serious boyfriend, fireman Miguel "Mickey" Arenas (Julien Acosta), to a murder perpetrated by one of her patients, forcing her to face her moral objection to the death penalty. Ironically, in an earlier episode, Lu thought Miguel had died on the job, when there was a fire at the local mall. It turns out the only reason he didn't die, is because he switched duties with friend and ended up driving the fire truck. Lu later becomes involved with Ben Sanderson (Grant Show), an administrator brought on after Rittenhouse is bought by a health care conglomerate, Octavian Systems. Sanderson later left to be reassigned to a facility in Miami. He asked Lu to come with him but, after thinking about it, she refused because her patients are there, and the constant travel makes it difficult to put down roots. Soon after, she became involved with Jonas Rey (Nestor Carbonell), a local self-made millionaire with a good heart but a large soulless corporation. In the final season, she and Jonas get married, and Lu struggles to get accustomed to a wealthier life, while trying to reconcile it with her inner-city loyalties. After Lu discovered she was pregnant with Jonas' baby, Jonas is plagued by an embezzlement scandal at his company, bringing his fortune into doubt. In the series finale, they decided to move to Jonas' childhood home, but while he was showing it to Lu, they were affected by an explosion and got caught in the ruined basement. Lu was injured and her placenta detached. She asked Jonas to perform an emergency C-Section to save her and the baby, but she fainted during the procedure. Luckily, the firemen arrived and called Dylan, who completed the C-Section, and Lu gave birth to their daughter, who was named Milagro (which means "miracle" in Spanish).
Source: Strong Medicine (CC BY-SA)
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Janine Turner as Dr. Dana Lee Stowe (seasons 1–3), an ambitious doctor and scientist seeking a cure for breast cancer; she is rigid and stoic, but cares deeply about her patients. Like her successor Andy Campbell, she was good friends with Jackson. She had a short-lived relationship with resident doctor Nick Biancavilla, which she broke up when he wasn't willing to have children. Her character left the show near the start of the third season after adopting two challenged children (an HIV-positive infant and her older sister), choosing to put her medical ambitions aside to pursue a successful motherhood.
Patricia Richardson as Dr. Andy Campbell (seasons 3–5), a former military doctor with the rank of Colonel, came on the staff during the third season to replace the much more ambitious and strict Dr. Dana Stowe. She is a general surgeon, and a West Point graduate, with a 27 year career. Before moving to Philadelphia, she was the Chief Medical Officer of the Army in Afghanistan. She is fluent in French, Dutch, German, Italian, and Tagalog (regional language of the Philippines). She also knows some Russian, and Japanese. Because of her father's military career (he retired as a General in the army), she moved frequently throughout her childhood. She lived in Germany as a child, and went to 9 different schools
