August 11, 2001

Backstreet Boy Howie D. Pays Visit To Children's Hospital

By Corey Moss (MTV.com)

Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough spent Sunday signing autographs for patients at the Boston Children's Hospital and talking about lupus.Dorough was promoting a new alliance between the Caroline Dorough-Cochran Lupus Memorial Foundation he founded after his sister died from the disease, and Veritas Medicine, a Web site that provides information on clinical trials and treatment for lupus and more than 50 other diseases, according to the Associated Press.The union will make it easier for patients to participate in medical research, Dorough told the AP."It just brings a good feeling to my heart to come back out here and visit these sometimes-sick patients and bring a little happiness to their lives,"he added.Lupus, which primarily affects women between the ages of 15 and 44, causes the immune system to attack the body's own tissue.Dorough recently announced details of the second annual Lupus Cruise to raise money for the foundation.Backstreet Boys play the final date of a three-night stay at Boston's FleetCenter Monday.