Or at least helped his own treatment. According to a Wired article one of the most effective treatments for the very type of cancer Kennedy has been diagnosed with is venom from the giant yellow israeli scorpion combined with iodine. The article states that the venom and iodine ignore healthy cells while binding to, and destroying the cancerous cells.
How did Kennedy Help with this? Follow below the fold
The article states that in 1983 Kennedy helped push through what is known as the "Orphan Drug Law". It encouraged pharmaceutical companies to continue R&D on drugs and cures for diseases that were extremely rare, so rare as not to be profitable. Later on Kennedy fought to amend the law to prevent the drug companies from charging outrageous fees for these drugs.
It turns out that one of these orphan drugs is the combination of the iodine and scorpion venom known as TM-601. One of the many treatment options available to Kennedy and one that holds quite a bit of promise, or so the article suggests.
This is exactly the kind of thing we need people like Senator Kennedy in office for. People who stand up and fight for laws like these so the treatment and potential curing of a patient come before the profit margins of big pharma.