Don Suddaby (himself) is the actual British biochemist that has synthesized the pure oil (erucic acid) that was used to treat Lorenzo. He was born in Kingston upon Hull, England, where he has a street named after him, "Suddaby Close", which runs adjacent to "Lorenzo Way".
Although a medical drama might seem an odd choice for the director of the "Mad Max" movies, George Miller is in fact a qualified doctor.
Producer and director George Miller also co-wrote the script. What with his medical background, it lends this movie a considerable accuracy when it comes to the progressive symptoms of ALD (adrenoleukodystrophy).
Lorenzo was played by four actors and two actresses in this movie.
Michelle Pfeiffer was originally cast as Michaela Odone, but dropped out in order to play Catwoman in Batman: O Retorno (1992), a role in which Susan Sarandon also expressed interest. The script for this movie was given to Sarandon, but she steadfastly refused to read it until she knew that Pfeiffer was no longer participating in this movie.