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Oct 24, 2006 11:31 pm US/Central
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Michael J. Fox In Town To Campaign For Dems
Fox Addresses Rush Limbaugh's Accusations
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli and Rob Johnson contributed to this report.
WHEATON (CBS) ―
Actor
Michael J. Fox was in town Tuesday to campaign for Democratic candidates, but he spent a lot of his day responding to derogatory comments made by radio talk show host
Rush Limbaugh.
RELATED STORY: 
Limbaugh: Michael J. Fox Exploited DiseaseMore than 200 people rose to their feet to greet
Tammy Duckworth and Michael J. Fox. The "Back to the Future" star and
Parkinson's sufferer was in Wheaton trying to help Duckworth become the Illinois 6th District's future congressman.
"I'm so excited that we are going to have the kind of leadership that Tammy will provide that will make sure this happens," Fox said.
Fox is referring to federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, which he believes is being thwarted by White House restrictions. To achieve his goal, he has been barnstorming the country and appearing in ads.
One ad airing in Missouri sparked controversy when Limbaugh remarked that it appeared that Fox was either off his medication or acting.
On Tuesday, the talk show host said Fox admitted in his book to not taking his meds when he appeared before Congress.
"He did not take his medication for the purposes of having the ravages and the horrors of Parkinson's disease illustrated," Limbaugh said.
Fox addressed the controversy on Tuesday.
"I'm kind of lucky right now. It's ironic, given some of the things that have been said in the last couple of days, that my pills are working really well right now," he said.
University of Chicago neurologist Dr. Thomas Kelly says Limbaugh doesn't have his facts straight. Fox's disease has progressed where he no longer only gets tremors, which can be controlled with medication, but has more erratic movements which are caused directly by his medicine.
"Chaotic, maybe writhing, dance-like movements, or dyskinesia, the movements I've seen in Mr. Fox, are due to his medications," said Dr. Kelly.
Duckworth called Limbaugh's opinion ridiculous.
"That comment is trying to take attention away from the real issue at hand, which is we need embryonic stem cell research," she said.
Duckworth's congressional opponent says that's not true. He was joined by a cancer survivor from Wheaton, who was treated using adult stem cells.
"His life has been transformed,"
Peter Roskam said.
In November, the outcome of this race could transform this debate in Congress.
(CBS 2, the Naperville Sun and the Aurora Beacon-News are news partners covering stories in the western suburbs of Chicago.)