ALS advocates say criticism of new drugs misses bigger picture

A diagnosis of ALS has long been seen as a death sentence.

But in recent years, progress in the world of ALS research and drug development has come to embody a conundrum with far broader implications: The balance between moving aggressively on promising new cures and guarding against false hope. With the Food and Drug Administration expected to decide later this year on the latest in a series of contentious ALS drug approvals, the stage is set for yet another debate about what drugs make sense for patients to try — and for taxpayers to fund. But Brian Wallach and Sandra Abrevaya, the founders of the advocacy group I Am ALS, don’t see it as a particularly difficult balancing act.