Eric Dane’s Final Mission: New Documentary Showcases His Fight for ALS Patients
He didn’t just battle ALS — he rallied a movement. Before his death, Eric Dane’s work with I AM ALS anchors Ring Every Bell, the documentary coming to Washington, D.C. next month that follows his advocacy journey.
Eric Dane was not just fighting ALS for himself. He spent his final year trying to keep the door open for other patients too. A new short documentary, 'Ring Every Bell,' captures that push and heads to Washington D.C. for a screening next month.
What the film actually follows
Dane, an ambassador for the nonprofit I AM ALS, goes to Capitol Hill to lobby for the reauthorization of the ACT for ALS bill. That law, signed in 2021 by President Joe Biden, created grant programs aimed at neurodegenerative diseases. It is currently on the clock, set to expire on September 30, 2026.
In one scene, Dane sits down with Senator Lisa Murkowski and Representative Morgan Griffith to make the case that Congress needs to move now, not when the clock hits zero. The stakes here are dry policy on paper, but very real for patients who rely on experimental treatments to slow a brutal disease with no cure.
'We have a bill that needs to get to the floor for reauthorization. And then it needs to get fully funded because if it doesn’t then people who are dependent on some of these investigational therapies no longer have access to them.'
Dane is joined by fellow ALS patient and advocate Dan Tate, Jr., who tells lawmakers that an investigational drug helped him so much he no longer needed a speaker and amplifier to project his voice. It is the kind of concrete, human example that makes the policy argument hit harder than a white paper ever will.
The policy part (made simple)
- 2021: ACT for ALS becomes law under President Joe Biden, creating grant programs for neurodegenerative diseases.
- September 30, 2026: That law sunsets unless Congress reauthorizes it.
- 2025: According to the film's press materials, Dane traveled to Capitol Hill multiple times to support the renewal and teamed with I AM ALS on its Push for Progress campaign.
- Next month: 'Ring Every Bell' screens in Washington D.C., spotlighting Dane's advocacy sprint.
Dane, the advocate and the patient
Dane keeps pointing out something a lot of people in this fight do not say out loud: he had great care and access, and many others don’t. That is why he wanted the bill extended and fully funded — to widen the pipeline to those investigational therapies beyond the lucky few.
He went public with his own diagnosis last year. ALS — amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. There is no cure. In April 2025, he told People that he had ALS, thanked his family for standing with him, said he was still able to work, and planned to be back on the 'Euphoria ' set the following week. He also asked for privacy as they navigated what was next.
The loss, and what is left
Dane, best known on the TV side for 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'Euphoria,' died earlier this year at 53. He shared two daughters, Billie and Georgia, with Rebecca Gayheart. In a February note, his family said he spent his final days with close friends, his wife, and his girls, and that in the middle of his own illness he became a determined advocate for awareness and research — work 'Ring Every Bell' now preserves on film.