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" Seth MacFarlane&amp;#039;s hit film Ted has drawn a protest from an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) support group. The ALS Therapy Alliance objects to a joke in the film where Mark Wahlberg&amp;#039;s character argues with another man by saying: &amp;quot;From one man to another, I hope you get Lou Gehrig&amp;#039;s disease!&amp;quot;   ALS has long been referred to as Lou Gehrig&amp;#039;s disease since the legendary baseball player was diagnosed with the illness in 1939. Traci Bisson, a spokesperson for the ALS Therapy Alliance, has condemned jokes at the expense of ALS patients in a statement. &amp;quot;We want to make it clear that ALS, or Lou Gehrig&amp;#039;s disease, is not a laughing matter for people and families suffering from this life-threatening illness. The punch line in the movie Ted comes at the expense of people afflicted with ALS,&amp;quot; Bisson said. Bisson went on to clarify that the organization is not &amp;quot;condemning&amp;quot; MacFarlane, rather thar she hopes this will simply be a learning experience for the writer-director. &amp;quot;We just want to stop this alarming trend before it becomes too widespread. We work every day with a dedicated community of supporters to raise awareness and funds, aiming to wipe out ALS,&amp;quot; Bisson explained.  &amp;quot;We hope the filmmakers move beyond the unfortunate way Lou Gehrig&amp;#039;s disease is used in the film and join us in finding a positive way to raise awareness and research funding to help find a cure.&amp;quot;  MacFarlane&amp;#039;s Ted topped the US box office over the weekend by taking in $54 m. Ted is now playing in the US and is released on August 1 in the UK. Watch a trailer for Ted below:      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a391848/seth-macfarlanes-ted-draws-protest-from-als-organisation/>