Actor Eric Dane’s cause of death revealed

AT MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM. OUR SERA CONGI IS LIVE IN CAMBRIDGE HEARING FROM ONE OF THE DOCTORS WHO TREATED HIM. SARA. ERICA. THE DOCTOR WITH MASS. GENERAL BRIGHAM IS GRATEFUL TO ERIC DANE FOR BEING SO OPEN ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE AND HELPING TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT ALS. I MET ERIC MAYBE A LITTLE LESS THAN A YEAR AGO. DOCTOR MERRITT SAKOVICH LEADS THE NEUROSCIENCE INSTITUTE AT MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM. SHE’S ALSO ONE OF THE DOCTORS WHO CARED FOR ACTOR ERIC DANE AS HE BATTLED ALS. WHAT ERIC DID WAS SHOW PEOPLE WHAT IT REALLY IS. DOCTOR SAKOVICH JOINED DANE WHEN HE TALKED WITH ABC’S DIANE SAWYER LAST SUMMER. I NEVER WANT ANYONE TO HEAR THAT. THERE’S NOTHING TO DO BECAUSE THERE’S A LOT TO DO. AND THAT’S WHAT I GOT FROM MERRITT WHEN I MET HER, WAS THAT THERE WAS A SENSE OF HOPE. THE 53 YEAR OLD ACTOR DIED THURSDAY, LESS THAN A YEAR AFTER ANNOUNCING HIS ALS DIAGNOSIS. DOCTOR SAKOVICH IS REMEMBERING THE IMPACT HE MADE ON THE FIGHT FOR A CURE AND THE REALLY A WARM PERSON. SO WE’RE ALL SAD HERE, BUT I’M TRYING TO REMEMBER THE GOOD THAT HE DID AND THE ADVOCACY AND THE AWARENESS. DANE BECAME ONE OF THE MORE THAN 30,000 PEOPLE IN THE U.S. BATTLING THE PROGRESSIVE NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE, AND THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE DIAGNOSED IS ON THE RISE. IT’S A REALLY SERIOUS ILLNESS. IT’S GETTING MORE COMMON, BUT IT IS A SOLVABLE ILLNESS. PEOPLE SAY IT’S A THERE’S NO SHORTAGE OF IDEAS. IT’S REALLY JUST AN UNDERFUNDED ILLNESS. SHE BELIEVES DANE WOULD NOT WANT PATIENTS TO BE DISHEARTENED BY HIS DEATH. IS THERE HOPE? THERE’S A TON OF HOPE. YES. THE FIELD IS ON FIRE IN TERMS OF SCIENCE AND IDEAS AND CLINICAL TRIALS. ERIC DANE PARTNERED WITH THE ORGANIZATION CALLED. I AM A S. HE WENT TO CONGRESS WITH THEM AND HE HELPED RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT THE DISEASE. IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT IT, YOU CAN GO TO I AM.ORG TO FIND OUT MORE.