When “Superman” editor-in-chief Julie Schwartz saw this, he ruled that the writers would be forbidden to resolve this story line with some science-fictional or magical cure for Alzheimer’s. Schwartz reasoned that some “Superman” readers have a relative with Alzheimer’s, and it would be cruel and disrespectful to those readers if a fictional character had recourse to a cure that isn’t available in the real world. Schwartz ruled that Perry White’s Alzheimer’s would remain a permanent plot point unless a real-world cure became available.

Of course, no cure was forthcoming. Eventually the writers just “forgot” about Perry White’s problem, and his Alzheimer’s went away by itself.