If someone has to play Wesley Crusher, I will accept that dubious honor. Mostly 'cause Wil Wheaton himself is actually a Pretty Cool Guy. But I'll see if I can't whip the boy genius into shape, learn him some tact and humility. IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU, WESLEY (except when the writers decide that it is 'cause you're their pet favorite)! But yeah, I always liked the idea he might have come back from his time with that weirdo Traveler in some later series with a wiser head on his shoulders and some serious foreknowledge into Big Things coming the galaxy's way. Sort of like Luke at the start of [i]Jedi[/i], if you get me?

Oooh, and maybe Guinan? Ensign Ro, if we use her? And/or Tasha if she's resurrected/brought back from an alternative timeline/the past?

Anyway. Uhhh... well, cultural complications in dealing with the illness? Bureaucratic? "Gee, what a shame this rebel faction/rival nation/opportunistic dick we can't strong-arm for some reason has all the [insert way to speed up and/or cure illness/save the day]! Maybe you Federation types want to take a swing at it?"

Another trick is the [i]House[/i] tactic of having the first-stage 'cure' actually intensify the condition and necessitate [i]super-critical super-urgent super-disestablishmentarianist methods that no one has ever been this crazy to try before[/i]! :P