Series synopsis
Strong Medicine is an American drama television series that premiered on Lifetime on July 23, 2000. It ended on February 5, 2006. It was created by Whoopi Goldberg, Tammy Ader. It stars Rosa Blasi, Jenifer Lewis, Josh Coxx and Philip Casnoff.
The lives of staff in the womens' health clinic of a fictitious hospital in Philadelphia.
Premise
The lives of staff in the womens' health clinic of a fictitious hospital in Philadelphia.
Premise: Hope in every heartbeat.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Rosa Blasi as Dr. Luisa 'Lu' Delgado
- Jenifer Lewis as Lana Hawkins
- Josh Coxx as Peter Riggs
- Philip Casnoff as Dr. Robert Jackson
- Patricia Richardson as Dr. Andy Campbell
- Janine Turner as Dr. Dana Stowe
- Tamera Mowry-Housley as Dr. Kayla Thornton
- Michelle Krusiec as Chen-Ling Fong
Supporting cast
- Brennan Elliott as Dr. Nick Biancavilla
- Rick Schroder as Dr. Dylan West
Guest cast
- Richard Biggs as Dr. Milo Morton
- Rappin' Granny as Grandmother
- Nicholas Pryor
- Arjay Smith as Kyle
- Eileen April Boylan as Araya Fujito
- Andrea Gabriel as Regina Bonfiglio
- Kyla Pratt as Donna Jenkins
- Amelia Marshall as Olivia Butler
- Lisa Eichhorn as Madeline
- Alley Mills as Rhonda LaCouer
- Charlotte Rae as Maude
- CCH Pounder as Libby Bell
Episodes
This series spans 6 seasons with 132 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 22 | July 23, 2000 | March 11, 2001 |
| Season 2 | 22 | July 15, 2001 | March 3, 2002 |
| Season 3 | 22 | July 21, 2002 | March 16, 2003 |
| Season 4 | 22 | June 15, 2003 | February 15, 2004 |
| Season 5 | 22 | June 13, 2004 | January 30, 2005 |
| Season 6 | 22 | June 12, 2005 | February 5, 2006 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Pilot Dr. Lu Delgado is running out of money to run her free clinic by herself. When Lu goes to prestigious Rittenhouse Hospital to ask for assistance, famous O.B.G.Y.N./surgeon Dr. Dana Stowe blames Lu for ruining her breast cancer study to find a cure for cancer after Lu tells a woman her opinon about test studies. Dana later is asked by Chief of Staff Dr. Bob Jackson to tour Lu's clinic and see if the clinic should get funded by Rittenhouse . Dana tells one of her patients that she has ovarian cancer and that she will not be able to have any children even though she has the desire to. In the end, Dr. Lydia Emerson comes up with the perfect solution to Lu's problem. |
July 23, 2000 |
| 2 |
Preexisting Conditions As Dana & begin to work together, Dana has to tell a surrogate couple that their unborn baby has a defect that will cause it to be mentally disable. After the surrogate couple tells Dana they will put the baby up for adoption. Dana tries to get the biological mother, who can barely afford to take care of her other children, to keep her baby. Lu finds out that a woman who claims to have had a hysterectomy has not. |
July 30, 2000 |
| 3 |
Misconceptions Dana treats an HIV positive patient of Lu's when Lu is out of the clinic and learns that his mother took him off the HIV medication with Lu's permission. She is furious and reports the mother. Although the boy suffers terrible side effects from the medication, Dr. Bob Jackson insists that he be put back on it. Dana falls for her handsome intern. |
August 6, 2000 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Donors The second season begins with Dana and Lu at odds over the fate of a dead college student's fertilized eggs. The day is further complicated by the arrival of Peter's mother, who clings to the idea that her heterosexual son is gay. Elsewhere, a dying patient and her husband wait impatiently for a donor heart and Nick's appointment to the ER staff is in doubt. |
July 15, 2001 |
| 2 |
Adverse Reactions After denying employment to a candidate who is both overqualified and overweight, Robert faces off against a civil-rights lawyer famous for her plus-size clientele. Elsewhere, Dana comes under fire from the Army when she diagnoses a 14-year veteran with Gulf War Syndrome. Lana cares for the newborn son of a neighborhood streetwalker. |
July 22, 2001 |
| 3 |
Gray Matter Dana's bedside manner is put to the ultimate test when a former high-school rival comes to her for treatment. A nurse considers suing the hospital after she tests positive for the HIV virus following an incident in the ER. |
July 29, 2001 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Positive As Dana's upcoming birthday makes her decide to seek a volunteer sperm donor so that she can have a child, she is confronted with a newborn who is HIV-positive. Lu is accused by an enraged mother of being responsible for her teenage daughter's sexually-transmitted disease because Lu provided the girl with birth control. |
July 21, 2002 |
| 2 |
Outcomes When Dana's attorneys make Peter's being a sperm donor difficult, Dana considers getting pregnant the old-fashioned way. Lu suspects that a baby's mother is the one responsible for the child's mysterious sickness. |
July 28, 2002 |
| 3 |
Stages Although it is now several months since she was raped, Lu is still reluctant when a cute paramedic asks her out on a date. |
August 4, 2002 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Hero Heart In a surprise twist following the suspenseful season finale cliffhanger, Mickey jumped in front of Lu and took the bullet for her; saving her life. Lu quickly rushes him to the hospital but little can be done to save his life besides putting him on a respiratory machine. Andy and Bob try to convince Lu to take him off the respirator. While Lu deals with the emotional trauma of Mickey's death, Andy tries to perform an experimental procedure on a baby in a bubble but is interrupted by Bob with news that the FDA has un-approved the procedure. Meanwhile Andy gets herself into a bureaucritical battle when she tries to get a patient who has no health insurance a free heart transplant. Also, Andy must tell Lizzy and Jesse that she and Les are getting a divorce and that he is moving across the country. |
June 15, 2003 |
| 2 |
Emergency Contacts Lu faces the doctor that raped her when he needs surgery that can save his life. Peter goes out with a woman who has terminal diabetes. |
June 22, 2003 |
| 3 |
Heartbeats and Deadbeats Andy and Milo treat a woman with an enlarged heart and conflict about what surgery to perform on her. Lu gets angry with Marc after he stays out until after midnight and insists that she babysit him until he is more responsible. Andy tells a sexually active elderly woman that she has HIV. Lu finds out about a terrible hospital error when trying to find a matching bone marrow for a young leukemia patient. Lana and Peter search the inner city for a woman whose aorta could burst at any time and face some frustrating difficulties. |
June 29, 2003 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Positive Results Nick is transferred to Manhatten General. Ben's HIV test has a positive result. Also, Ben hires his ex-wife to make up for the damage he caused to her career. Andy learns that her daughter Jesse's friend is addicted to cough syrup. Kayla Thorton, a new intern, is pushed into the hustle and bustle of the ER. She gets into trouble when she asks a girl if she is sexually active in front of her mother and things go terribly wrong. Jesse gives her friend CPR to save her life after she loses consciousness due to consuming too much syrup. Andy feels responsible for the incident because Jesse's friend was in her care. |
June 13, 2004 |
| 2 |
Touched by an Idol Andy tells a famous rock star and a patient to rest and cancel some of her concerts because of fatigue. The rock star invites Lu's young patient who has a terminal disease to spend the day with her. Lu's patient's mother directs a terrible accusation at the rock star. Ben starts a concierge service to keep the clinic open after it faces financial difficulties. |
June 20, 2004 |
| 3 |
Omissions Dr. Campbell treats a patient for what she believes is alcoholism but she won't admit to her drinking problem. The patient's daughter goes to desperate measure to get her mom to stop drinking. Another of Andy's patients needs to get a kidney transplant but nobody in her family is a match. Tammy's mom then reveals a horrible secret that could save her daughter's life. Meanwhile, Lu, Lana, Peter, and Ben go out on the streets to find out what is threatening the lives of young infants. |
June 27, 2004 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
New Blood Lu meets Andy 's replacement, Dr. Dylan West, an obnoxious man she worked with when she was an intern as they struggle to save the lives of the many people involved in a train accident. Later, she discovers something shocking while talking to a bipolar patient. The president is in town and the Secret Service makes sure the hospital keeps plenty of B- blood (the president's rare blood type) on hand. Dylan tries to help a pregnant patient make the right decision about a potentially hazardous surgery. Meanwhile, Lu contemplates marrying Jonas while dealing with the obnoxious woman who caused Dr. Jackson to lose his job. Later, the unthinkable happens to Lu and she and those close to her struggle to save her life. |
June 12, 2005 |
| 2 |
Feeling No Pain Lu tries to find out why a young patient has mysterious bruises on her body. Lu suspects the mother of child abuse while Dylan suspects the girl's nanny. Meanwhile, Dylan helps a patient try to combat her ####### addiction and when she has strange symptoms, he goes undercover to find out why. Kayla moves in with Lana when she has trouble finding an apartment. |
June 19, 2005 |
| 3 |
Clinical Risk After a policewoman uses a stun gun to discipline an 11-year-old boy with behavioral problems, Lu takes a special interest in him and the new technique. Dylan is asked to perform a risky procedure by a multiple sclerosis patient who is willing to risk her life to beat the disease. Kayla finds that a patient has come into contact with the deadly poison ricin and is forced to report it to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. |
June 26, 2005 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | Lifetime |
|---|---|
| First aired | July 23, 2000 |
| Last aired | February 5, 2006 |
| Runtime | 60 minutes |
| Status | Ended |
| Schedule | Sunday at 21:00:00 |