Heavy Medicine occurs as fictitious medical dramthe by owning a center on women's health issues, likewise when progressive social politics & class conflict. A television series has aired on the Lifetime network since 2000. These are distributed by Sony Pictures. A series was created, & is produced inside a portion by comedienne & activistic Whoopi Goldberg, who manufactured the cameo in the series pilot. the indicate employs a kind of regular & guest writers.

Background
A indicate centers about a staff of fictional Rittenhouse Hospital in Philadelphia, largely involving the operations of the ER and a loose women's health clinic, dog by inner-city profits story Dr. Luisa "Lu" Delgado. a urban facility receives a diverse mixture of patients, from either upper- & middle-class patients, which typically allows a hospital to finance the loose clinic, & lower-class or even unfortunate patients, world health organization came to choose benefit of Dr. Delgado's hospital-funded services.

A staff & its visitant tend to exist as racially, politically, & economically diverse. The core class/political duality in the episodes' plot line tend to become caused by comparisons & contrasts (& typically cooperation) between liberal lower-class Delgado, & her fellow women's health practician through a lobby, world health organization understands paying patients & typically has further conservativist values -- this role has been filled by various characters, last Dr. Dylan West. A indicate typically wharehouses a characters witharound ironic, soul-self-analysis situations where it is forced to wonder a solidity of their family beliefs as an alternative stimulator the children to fight for what it imagine in.

Main characters
Independent characters on the indicate when of 2005 include: ; Dr. Luisa "Lu" Delgado : (Rosa Blasi-Finn) Delgado runs a loose clinic, and hosts the every week informal women's health class action (virtually all 2003 and 2004 episodes open with the scene from either these meetings). Each as an inner-city resident & a doctor to numbers of lower-class patients, Delgado regularly comes face-to-face using bitterly ironic situations involving the difficulties of the underclass using government, debt, drug abuse, and exploitation. Her character exhibits the perennial cleverness which allows her to wheedle or even persuade caring results from either on the face of it battle of poitiers instances of victimization. She has a teen boy, Marc, world health organization has been at college since the 2004 season. In the spring 2005 season she married Jonas Ray, a local millionaire CEO; ab initio of the fall 2005 season Ray's millions (& stability) come oppugn by an embezzlement scandal.

; Dr. Dylan West : (Rick Schroder) Replacing Dr. Campbell's role is West, the male women's health specialist. His gender raises initial supercilium, especially using Delgado, world health organization has likewise got retiring blackball lives using him. He has his have tumultuous past & seems to exist as shopping for to redeem himself from either something at Rittenhouse. He occurs as diabetic, which becomes a revenant plot device. He has enormously bad luck around romance, by using several love interests death. the single such previous love interest reach Rittenhouse looking for the freshly heart to hold up; West is unable to save her life, however profits a girl, Araya (Eileen April Boylan), he never knew he had.

; Peter Riggs : (Joshua Cox) A nurse, Peter is usually progressive, open-minded, & an great advice-giver. He practices Buddhism and believes in the principles of holistic medicine. He is typically the kindred spirit to Delgado. Typically, Riggs' character makes the balanced sociopolitical observation that influences the caring action by one of them doctors; more days he is the protagonist of action. Typically shown as a lady's human by owning many girlfriends, has settled into the relationship using Kayla.

; Lana Hawkins : (Jenifer Lewis) Hawkins serves as a front receptionist for even a RWHC, or the Rittenhouse Women's Health Center. The previous drug addict and prostitute long since rehabilitated, she got her job sustaining a serve of Delgado. She has deuce sons, the single an officer in the Navy, the more a con artist world health organization another time pretended he got a married woman & boy to trick his mother away from money. Hawkins is the hospital's eyes & ears, i personally.e. primary gossip, when well as marriage broker, & general benevolent plotter & rule-bender. Lana typically refers to herself in the third human.

; Kayla Thornton : (Tamera Mowry) A fresh doctor & immature African-U.s. medical prodigy, Thornton occurs as convenient survey at Rittenhouse, typing residency in the 2004 season and becoming the depended-upon ER regular per 2005 season, despite occasional disbelief by patients that she is a proven doctor. Thornton rooms by owning various fellow staff member around her look for for low-priced housing; number one within Dr. Campbell's home, however by using Lana fallowing Campbell's departure, & late by using Peter, by having whom she has the budding relationship. She was late selected principal resident.

Former characters

; Dr. Andy Campbell : (Patricia Richardson) A previous military doctor, Campbell come on a staff in the period of the 2002 season to replace an correspondent character (a tremendously extra challenging & nonindulgent Dr. Dana Stowe, played by Janine Turner). Her patients tend to become upper-middle-class, & typically include minor local celebrities & agents. Her character on a face of it survives the nearly average suburban nuclear personal life style, aside from either her status when breadwinner. She has 2 teenaged girl, Jesse & Lizzie. Campbell was known as United States Surgeon General (which was also a declared ambition of her predecessor) at the prevent of the 2004 season and left a indicate.

; Dr. Robert "Bob" Jackson : (Philip Casnoff) Chief of staff of Rittenhouse Hospital, he is the stoic, administrative figure & as well inside the end in charge of decisions on funding, especially to the women's clinic. Jackson considers himself the household friend of Dr. Campbell (when he was using Dr. Stowe), however usually is other neutral & occasionally butts heads sustaining Dr. Delgado complete fiscal or even liability issues, & by having Lana on top administrative issues. a revenant subplot throughout the series was Jackson treating by owning his darling married woman's forward MS trouble. He potentially briefly left her, unable to watch over her succumb however at length went back to her. Jackson's character was placed dispatch by hospital creator Octavian before a run of the 2005 season.

; Dr. Dana Stowe : (Janine Turner), an ambitious doctor & man of science shopping for the curative for cancer; she is rigid & stoical & has the unfortunate bedside manner. Prefer her successor Andy Campbell, she was practiced friends using Jackson. Her character left a indicate at a prevent of the 2001 season after adopting deuce challenged baby, finding to put her medical ambitions aside to pursue the successful maternity.

Major plot developments
Major indicate plot developments when of 2005: Campbell kicks retired her hubby, Leslie, when he hits her when you took the farm dispute, forcing her to examine domestic abuse issues when well as single motherhood. Campbell & Leslie use been married for 30 years forswearing any violence in a house, & Leslie is presented when changing from either the caring hubby to the violent maniac above the course of two or three weeks. Delgado loses her beau, Mickey, to execution perpetrated by one of her patients, forcing her to face her moral objection to the death penalty. Campbell becomes taking part sustaining a second doctor, cardiac surgeon Dr. Milo Morton (Richard Biggs). Delgado becomes exposed by owning Ben Sanderson (Grant Show), an administrator brought on when Rittenhouse is bought by the health care conglomerate. Sanderson down the road leaves to become reassigned to the facility within Miami. Campbell's love interest dies inside an accident (the development forced per dying of actor Richard Biggs due to an undiagnosed heart condition). Leslie, with sought therapy to control his anger, assists Andy across her irritation & it mend thier relationship to friendly terms. Delgado becomes exposed by using Jonas Ray (Nestor Carbonell), the local self-mass produced billionaire by owning a good heart however a big soulless corporation. Campbell will bring the newly hospital resident, Dr. Kayla Thornton (Tamera Mowry), into her home. Thornton & Riggs commence the relationship fallowing the year of occasional plot hints. Campbell leaves Rittenhouse to get U.S. Surgeon General. (Patricia Richardson will leave Strong Medicine, even due to the major a share on The West Wing (television) in the 2005 season.) Campbell is replaced by Dylan West, using whom Delgado hwhen experienced preceding dealings, & encounters various life struggles as he seeks to overcome his demons. West discovers he has the girl, & suddenly becomes the father first, as the individual parent of a rebellious teen. Hawkins receives her degree within psychological science, & Lu enlists her to consult for her women's class action, when volunteer operate towards her Master's degree. Delgado & Jonas get hitched using, & Lu struggles for habitual to the loaded life, when trying to reconcile it with her inner-city loyalties. Lu discovers she is pregnant sustaining Jonas' tots. Kayla is known as chief resident after narrowly missing it due to a complex emergency home call for. After personally bringing regorge South American children to Rittenhouse for coarse of action, Jonas is plagued by an peculation scandal at his company, bringing his fortune & stability into doubt.

Spinoff
Touching a prevent of the 2004-2005 season, a favorite episode "First Response" aired, conspicuously featuring trey fresh characters: Kate & Zack, each EMTs, and Dr. Vanessa Burke, head of the freshly Rittenhouse Trauma Center & adoptive African-U.s. sister of Kate. the TV Tome web site reports that this episode might help when a kick-off to a likely Heavy Medicine spinoff series, Strong Medicine: First Response. Whenever this series airs, it is a number one spin-by-product to an existent Life original series.