SYNOPSIS STRONG MEDICINE The 1960's...a time when America's billion-dollar drug industry was in full swing. It was also a time when women and business did not mix. "STRONG MEDICINE," based on Arthur Hailey's runaway bestseller, is the story of two women, Celia Grey (Pamela Sue Martin) and her roommate Jessica (Annette O'Toole) who set out on two separate paths in their quest for personal fulfillment. Celia, young, gutsy and confident, challenges the corporate world when she pursues her dream of entering the pharmaceutical industry--a private industry where decisions affect not just million-dollar-profits, but the health and safety of thousands. At a time when the executive suite was closed to women, Celia manages to land her first job as a lab technician at Felding-Roth, one of the nation's leading pharmaceutical companies. Soon tiring of washing beakers and flasks, Celia gathers her courage and approaches Sam Hawthorne (Dick Van Dyke) the head of sales, and asks for a chance to prove herself. Sam, impressed by her guts, decides to give her a break, making her the company's first sales woman. Jessica, on the other hand, is working her way up to a marriage license and a house in the country filled with kids. She can't understand why any woman would want a career when you could have a man support you. Jessica succeeds in landing her man, but her traditional dream of marriage and motherhood are not quite what she expected. Her husband Bill (Michael Thoma) has trouble keeping a job and her dreams of a nice house will have to wait. Celia's quest seems the more difficult. Her hard work and honesty win the respect of the doctors she calls on but there are those at Felding- Roth who do not take kindly to her methods. One of those people is scientist Vince Lord (Sam Neill) whose ambition and greed more often than not get in the way of doing the right thing. On one of her sales calls, Celia meets Dr. Andrew Jordan (Patrick Duffy) who is despondent over one of his patients who is dying of infectious hepatitis. As a last hope, Celia suggest an experimental drug that Felding- Roth is testing which has not yet been approved by the FDA. The drastic measure works. When the news hits the local papers, Celia is brought to the attention of Felding-Roth's president Eli Camperdown (Douglas Fairbanks) who congratulates her and invites her to sit in on a board meeting. A new drug is being considered. Vince Lord wants to start testing immediately and pushes to try the new sedative on a test group of pregnant women. Celia vetoes the idea and is hailed a hero when reports surface that THALIDOMIDE has caused widespread deformities in babies in Europe. Vince is furious with Celia and sets out to destroy her. The experience has also brought Andrew and Celia closer together and it isn't long before they fall in love and marry. Although Andrew professes to support his wife's career, Celia soon discovers that her liberated husband would really prefer her home waiting for him after a long day at the hospital. A rift begins to form in their marriage. Jessica is also having trouble at home. Her husband Bill has been offered the chance to go to Washington and work in the Kennedy administration. But being left home with the kids all day, Jessica begins to feel restless and bored. She turns to drinking to ease her emptiness. Meanwhile, Celia is asked to go to London to check out the feasibility of a British operation. There she meets Dr. Martin Taylor, a young researcher who is working on a cure for Alzheimers. Celia finds herself more and more attracted to Taylor and the feeling is clearly reciprocated. When Jessica, suspicious of Bill's frequent late nights at the office, finds out that he is having an affair with his secretary, she takes the kids and goes to stay with Celia. While separated from Bill she meets a young man who is involved in the peace movement. He invites her and the children to come live with him in a commune. When Bill finds out, he follows her and kidnaps the children one night while Jessica is sleeping. Jessica goes after them and she and Bill face the decision of whether they want to give their marriage another try. The British Institute opens and Lord, threatened by its possible success, blackmails someone at the Food and Drug Administration to get a new drug on the market. The drug seems to be doing well and Lord begins to see himself as invincible. His victory is short lived, however. Reports that the drug may be linked to 15 deaths soon surface and Vince, hoping the crisis will pass, withholds the information from the company. When Felding-Roth is brought before a Senate hearing it's up to Celia to prove the company's innocence before a publicity seeking Senator tries to prove otherwise.