Rep. Waxman Laughs At Man Suffering From Restless Leg Syndrome
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) made a joke about "restless leg syndrome" on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" this morning. Waxman was schooled when a man suffering from the disorder called in and told the Congresmann how he got it.
WAXMAN: Somebody said, "Why is your knee jerking?" And I thought I was making a joke, and I said, "Well, I have restless leg syndrome." Now, I don't think there is such a thing as restless leg syndrome. I'll probably hear from all those people who have it. But I thought that restless leg syndrome was a disease that was created by a drug company that wanted to sell a drug for the disease they had created. And I was making a joke. Well, when I got out of the hospital, I looked at my record, it said, 'he claims to have restless leg syndrome.' Well, I don't know if there is such a thing or not. I don't have it. But a lot of people start thinking they have medical problems because they've seen too many of these commercials. I don't think that's doing the public a lot of good. It's certainly making the drug companies richer, but it's not doing a lot of good for the public. HOST: Let's hear from Scott on the Independent line, from Greenbackville, Virginia. CALLER: Uh, yes. Representative Waxman, good morning. As someone who does have restless leg syndrome -- WAXMAN: (Laughs) CALLER: -- I can tell you that it does exist. WAXMAN: It does exist? CALLER: Oh, absolutely. It's a terrible thing. I had achieved that through a back injury.
