A Mother’s Prescription

Meryl Streep makes her first dramatic television appearance in nearly 20 years in ABC’s “ . . . first do no harm.” For her return to TV, she has chosen a richly textured role as Lori Reimuller, a mother who defies conventional medical treatment in favor of a controversial diet approach as a way of dealing with her son’s epilepsy.

Calling on her own life experience as the mother of four, Streep turns in a performance filled with characteristically fine touches, portraying Lori as a Midwestern woman who--challenged by unusual circumstances--discovers her own unusual strengths.

When Lori’s 4-year-old son, Robbie, suddenly suffers seizures that are diagnosed as epileptic, the entire Reimuller family is impacted by the malady. As months pass, and treatment after treatment produces no positive results while the family’s finances become ever more desperate, Lori begins a determined effort to find her own solution.

Her research leads to the Ketogenic Diet, a fatty therapeutic nutritional treatment based upon the apparent reduction of seizures related to the ketosis produced by fats in the body. Although the treatment has been in use in some hospitals for decades, it continues to be viewed as unproven by many physicians. But Lori, angered at her doctor’s disdainful rejection of the diet, finally realizes the decision for Robbie’s treatment must rest with her and her family.

The primary risk faced by a movie that makes such a powerful endorsement of a specific medical procedure is that the story will come across as a tract rather than a convincing drama. And there are moments in “ . . . first do no harm”--the title comes from the final phrase of the Hippocratic oath taken by all physicians--in which actors are obliged to deliver long segments of explanatory material.

But the heart of the movie--the interaction between Streep and the remarkable young Seth Adkins as Robbie--beats with such a powerful feeling of urgency that it more than compensates for the slower, sometimes mind-glazing expository moments.

Ultimately, of course, it is impossible to avoid the fact that this is a story with a point of view that is clearly delineated in the script and the characters. The primary opposition to the Ketogenic Diet treatment, for example, is provided by Dr. Melanie Abbasac (played with prim coolness by Allison Janney), a not particularly sympathetic character. One of Lori’s principal supporters, on the other hand, is the warm and compassionate Jim Peterson (Tom Butler), and Lori’s husband, Dave (Fred Ward), is a model of empathy, support and understanding.

Should television drama, with its inherent capacity to persuade via the subtle use of character, story and music, be used to advocate specific agendas? It is a good question. Yet specific agendas are advocated constantly--sometimes intentionally, sometimes unconsciously or covertly.

In the case of “ . . . first do no harm,” which is a fictionalized dramatization inspired by actual events, what is ultimately more important is that this family drama champions an even broader point, one that reaches well beyond epilepsy and the controversial Ketogenic Diet: the importance of taking responsibility for one’s own health.

It is a point well worth making, regardless of one’s opinion of specific medical procedures at issue here. The most moving and most liberating scenes in the picture are those in which Lori finally refuses to allow the accountability for her child’s health to be made solely by others.

Streep’s touching veracity in those scenes takes this compelling story out of the realm of advocacy and into the arena of fascinating television drama.

* “ . . . first do no harm” airs Sunday on ABC-TV at 9 p.m.