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Films on health care
Reforming the US health are system has been a hot topic for the last year and now the issue is coming to a boil in Congress. Stop by the Media Library and checkout a film that tackles health care issues in the US and around the world.
Photo by Oswaldo Ordóñez
Four in five Americans say the U.S. health-care system needs 'fundamental' change. Can the U.S. learn anything from the rest of the world about how to run a health-care system, or are these nations so culturally different from us that their solutions would simply not be acceptable to Americans? FRONTLINE correspondent T.R. Reid examines first-hand how other advanced capitalist democracies - the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland - deliver healthcare, and what the United States might learn from their successes and failures. DVD 9979
One of the series of special reports broadcast under the umbrella "Critical condition : healthcare in America". This ABC news program seeks to understand what factors contribute to top-notch healthcare as it assesses the advantages and disadvantages of Canadian and U.S. systems. DVD 3255
Michael Moore interviews Americans who have been denied treatment by the United States health care insurance companies -- companies who sacrifice essential health services in order to maximize profits. Sheds light on the how complicated it can become for communities and individuals, and the sacrifices they have made when they are denied health care coverage. DVD 8051
Explores different types of information that is important for technicians in the drug discovery process. MV 9965Documentary examines the pharmaceutical industry's marketing of antidepressants with particular emphasis on the firm GlaxoSmithKline. It explores the unhealthy relationships between society, medical science and the pharmaceutical industry as they promote miracle cures - selling not just drugs but also the latest diseases that go with them. It also looks at the growing controversy around SSRI antidepressants (especially as they affect adolescents) and follows British psychiatrist David Healy and patients' accusations that aggressive drug marketing is blurring the boundaries between medical conditions and ordinary life. DVD 5422
This short powerful documentary follows an Iraqi mother struggling under U.S. occupation to care for her son, who is dying of AIDS. As US military helicopters fly overhead, a mother administers injections to her young son, Sari, in a small clay hut in the Mahmudiyah region of central Iraq. Sari, only ten years old, contracted AIDS during a blood transfusion. Plagued by constant pain and fatigue, his immune system is failing and his condition is gradually deteriorating. Determined to help her son any way she can, Sari's mother embarks on a Sisyphean journey to Baghdad, into the offices of government officials, devastated hospitals, and the country's labyrinthine healthcare system. DVD 8363
UNNATURAL CAUSES sounds the alarm about the extent of our alarming
socio-economic and racial inequities in health-and searches for their
root causes. But those causes are not what we might expect. It turns
out there's much more to our health than bad habits, health care or
unlucky genes. The social conditions in which we are born, live and
work profoundly affect our well-being and longevity. DVD 8707 & Video on Demand
A two-part documentary exploring the connection between one's emotional state and one's health. Health care professionals describe new holistic approaches to treating illness. DVD 6349
Corporate cost-cutting and other business imperatives are making today's health care insurance either unavailable or unaffordable for America's working families--44 million at last count. Where can America's uninsured turn for healthcare? Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Hedrick Smith reports on how such states as California, Texas and Tennessee are dealing with the desperate needs of the uninsured and their children. DVD 3244
A dramatic tale of microbes, medicine and money, this eye-opening new film investigates the untold story of Lyme disease, an emerging epidemic larger than AIDS. DVD 9805
Although dreams of a socialist utopia in Cuba have all but vanished, decades of U.S. trade sanctions have not had the expected effect, either. This program looks at the legacy of Cuba's Communist revolution and the Castro regime, examining political, social, and economic conditions prevailing in the island nation today. Positive and negative aspects alike are discussed--from Cuba's high literacy rate and world-class healthcare system to its authoritarian political structure and its deplorable human rights record. A successful urban agricultural program highlights the resourcefulness of the Cuban people in the face of poverty, international pressure, and governmental abuse. The role of Raul Castro is also explored. DVD 1021
Big Bucks, Big Pharma pulls back the curtain on the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry to expose the insidious ways that illness is used, manipulated, and in some instances created, for capital gain. Focusing on the industry's marketing practices, media scholars and health professionals help viewers understand the ways in which direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical advertising glamorizes and normalizes the use of prescription medication, and works in tandem with promotion to doctors. Combined, these industry practices shape how both patients and doctors understand and relate to disease and treatment. Ultimately, Big Bucks, Big Pharma challenges us to ask important questions about the consequences of relying on a for-profit industry for our health and well-being. DVD 5930
A 60-ish widower, living alone with his cats, feels sick enough one evening to call an ambulance. This is the beginning of his Dantesque odyssey deep into the bowels of a big city medical establishment. DVD 6336
Satirical look at a large metropolitan hospital where the patients die of neglect, the interns chase the nurses, the head of the hospital contemplates suicide and there's someone killing off the staff. DVD 5741
In this tale set in modern West Africa, a local doctor finds a cure to a deadly virus, a medicinal herb used by the population of a small rural village. He decides to mass produce the drug at low cost. However, a pharmaceutical multinational hears about the project and sends an agent to Africa with instructions to stop the doctor's work. MV 10733
Werner Ernst is a young hospital resident who becomes embroiled in a legal battle between two half-sisters who are fighting over the care of their comatose father. But are they really fighting over their father's care, or over his $10 million estate? Meanwhile, Werner must contend with his nutty supervisor, who insists that he only care for patients with full insurance. Can Werner sidestep the hospital's legal team and do what's best for the patient? DVD 1650
Follow the lives of the emergency room staff and doctors at Chicago's County General Hospital. Season 1 (DVD 2293), Season 2 (DVD 4090), Season 3 (DVD 7630), and Season 4 (DVD 7553) available.