AMA Lifetime Achievement Awards Go To Jerry Lewis & MDA

TUCSON, Ariz., December 10, 1996 -- The American Medical Association has recognized Jerry Lewis and the Muscular Dystrophy Association with Lifetime Achievement Awards "for significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity."

Presented during the recent International Health and Medical Film Competition in San Francisco, the AMA awards salute Lewis for dedicating nearly half a century of his life to helping "his kids," and recognize the association that is synonymous with his name for three noteworthy accomplishments.

The AMA credits MDA for setting "an enduring world standard for private sector humanitarian action by mobilizing a force of two million volunteers in the effort to combat 40 neuromuscular diseases affecting a million Americans." It then heralds MDA for creating "a new field of medical research that has enlisted the talents of some of the world's leading scientists in an international effort encompassing some 400 individual research projects." Finally, the AMA praises MDA for leading "the way into the new era of genetic research, having achieved breakthroughs in this vital area that bid not only to lead to the eradication of neuromuscular diseases but also treatments for other of humankind's greatest scourges, including heart disease, cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's, Parkinson's, and cystic fibrosis."

Jerry Lewis is the fifth person to receive this top honor from the AMA, and MDA is the first nonprofit agency to be so recognized. Previous recipients of Lifetime Achievement Awards, presented during the annual International Health and Medical Film Competition -- the world's largest competition devoted entirely to medical, health, and environmental films -- include pioneer heart surgeon Michael E. DeBakey, Oscar-winning actress Helen Hayes, Oscar-winning producer and director Robert E. Wise, and former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop.

"I accept this honor, not for myself, but for every doctor, every scientist, every grad student toiling in a lab," said Lewis, MDA national chairman. "I might be leading the charge, but they're winning the battle to save lives."

MDA President Robert M. Bennett reinforced this sentiment, in accepting MDA's Lifetime Achievement Award. Calling the awards a harbinger of even greater progress, Bennett, chairman of Trans Atlantic Entertainment, said "MDA-supported researchers will continue to work around the clock, pursuing every meaningful avenue of scientific investigation until treatments and cures are found."

MDA is a voluntary health agency working to eradicate 40 neuromuscular diseases. Consistently recognized by financial, nonprofit-sector, and general media for its cost effectiveness, MDA offers an unparalleled array of clinical, orthopedic and other health services to adults and children through some 230 hospital-affiliated clinics nationwide.

The Association also is the country's largest private-sector sponsor of neuromuscular disease research, annually funding some 400 scientific teams worldwide. For information about MDA's research efforts and the many services it provides, or for referrals to any of its clinics, call 1-800-572-1717. Information is also available electronically through the MDA Forum on CompuServe (GO MDA) and its home-page on the Internet (http://www.mda.org/).