Date: January 15, 2008

Time: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Station: CNN Headline News

Location: Network

Program:Glenn Beck

GLENN BECK, host:

It's time for tonight's Real America, brought to you this evening by CSX.

Now, I'm a capitalist at heart, and I understand that a company's first priority is profit. But when a business can combine capitalism with compassion because they feel it, that is a story worth telling. And for Beth Mercante, it is a story and a treatment that saved her life.

Ms. BETH MERCANTE (Suffers from Hereditary Angiodema): My first attack was when I was about four years old. I had a limb swelling attack. My hands swell. My arms would swell. And my face would swell.

BECK: Beth Mercante suffers from HAE, a rare genetic blood disorder that affects only 6,000 people in the US. Beth and her mother are two of them.

Ms. MERCANTE: Every time I was in bed doubled over in pain, thinking, you know, this is just cruel, you know. Why should it be me?

BECK: The attacks have no warning and can last for days at a time, making even getting out of bed an impossibility. The disease has crippled Beth's limbs. But it wasn't until her son was diagnosed that HAE broke her heart.

Ms. MERCANTE: The fact that he doesn't have to miss school and go through what I went through is incredibly important to me.

BECK: Until two years ago, steroid treatments had been Beth and her family's only option. The side effects were awful, and even with their treatments, she and her son still suffered the attacks.

Then, her medical miracle happened. A little-known drug company called Lev Pharmaceuticals answered her prayers.

Mr. JOSHUA SCHEIN (CEO, Lev Pharmaceuticals): We're a patient-focused company, and we set up this company with a very clear and simple objective, and that is to bring a therapy that's been available in Europe for more than 35 years here to the US.

BECK: Lev provides twice-weekly infusion treatments for Beth, her mom, and her son, free of charge. It started as a clinical trial, and now it has become a way of life. The treatment has given Beth her life back.

Ms. MERCANTE: I can wake up every morning and get my kids ready for school, and pick them up every day, and take them to activities, and go away on weekends and not worry about, do I have all of my medicine? You know, am I going to need my pain pills? You know, am I going to have a attack somewhere and not be able to make it?

I got my life back, absolutely.

My son's future is just going to be amazing compared to mine. You know, he's going to be able to play all the sports he wants. He can probably play contact sports if he wanted to now, whereas before there was no way he could ever do anything like that. But now that we have the Lev product, I'm not scared I'm going to lose my son.

BECK: People keep saying to me they want more good news. Well, there it is. And I have plenty of stories just like this one.

You can go to CNN.com/glenn and look for the "Real America" section.

Tonight's "Real America" sponsored by CSX, how tomorrow moves.

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