Oliver Sacks: There had been an account in early 1967 of the effects of L-DOPA on people with ordinary Parkinson’s disease, and it was touted as a sort of miracle drug. Now one of my patients — in fact, the original Leonard L., who was somewhat different from the movie version, a very bright man — he was the one who drew my attention to this, and he spoke of dopamine, the neurotransmitter needed in the brain, as “resurrectamine.” He spoke of Cotzias, the physician who had introduced L-DOPA, as “the chemical messiah.” You know, one sees the depth of intelligence and hope and irony and desperation here. Well, my patients did have Parkinsonian — sort of clinical features of Parkinsonism — but they didn’t have ordinary Parkinson’s disease. I’m sorry, this sounds a little confusing. But Parkinsonism for them was part of a much more complex, strange, long-standing disease. And because of the complexity of the disease and its duration, I didn’t know how L-DOPA would — how they would do with L-DOPA. I think it couldn’t be known.