A respected source of balanced, first-rate journalism, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer raises urgent and challenging questions whenever it covers the healthcare field. This anthology of NewsHour segments confronts ethical dilemmas and complex issues in medicine today. Through in-depth reporting and interviews with doctors, nurses, patients, and other experts, the anthology examines case studies, scientific breakthroughs, and connections between corporate and public policy.
The episodes are…
· Rising Healthcare Costs: Susan Dentzer explains a 2007 U.S. healthcare spending report projecting a dramatic rise over the next decade, from $2 trillion to over $4 trillion by 2016.
· Uninsured Americans: Susan Dentzer analyzes a 2006 U.S. Census Bureau report on the number of uninsured Americans, which has increased by 1.3 million—including 400,000 more children—since 1999.
· Longevity and Income: Highlighting medical research that links certain health risks with low social status, Paul Solman reports on the connection between what we earn and how long we live.
· A Plan to Insure Everyone: Susan Dentzer clarifies groundbreaking Massachusetts legislation which would allow 99 percent of individuals in the state to obtain health insurance.
· Foreign Country Doctors: Fred de Sam Lazaro studies the increase in doctors from overseas working in the U.S. healthcare system—and how American hospitals often can’t manage without them.
· Medical Mistakes: Up to 98,000 deaths annually can be attributed to errors in U.S. hospitals. Susan Dentzer reports on the 100,000 Lives campaign which aims to prevent those tragedies.
· Nurses Denied Training: Why are thousands of would-be nurses denied affordable training at community colleges while America’s healthcare providers, facing a shortage, import nurses from abroad? John Merrow investigates.
· Caregivers Struggle with Alzheimer’s: Susan Dentzer looks at the growing number of patients stricken with Alzheimer’s disease and the emotional, physical, and financial burdens placed on their loved ones.
· Restructuring the ER: Studies show that more than half the nation’s emergency rooms are so overcrowded that they frequently turn patients away. Susan Dentzer sheds light on this critical situation.
· Risk of Hospital Infections: Ray Suarez interviews Dr. Richard Shannon of the University of Pennsylvania about an alarming statistic: approximately 100,000 Americans die each year from infections acquired in hospitals.
· Changing Face of AIDS: Joined by activists and health professionals from the U.S. and Africa, Ray Suarez moderates a roundtable on AIDS policy.
· Conducting Drug Research in India: Fred de Sam Lazaro visits India, exploring the controversial decision by many pharmaceutical companies to conduct clinical trials there.
· Debating Drug Company Gifts: Gwen Ifill and two experts discuss a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Big Pharma marketing tactics—and their effects on patients.
· Drug Safety: Margaret Warner interviews FDA Commissioner Dr. Andrew Von Eschenbach about administrative changes designed to improve oversight of prescription drugs.
· Mandatory Cervical Cancer Vaccine Debate: After a background report from Susan Dentzer on the human papillomavirus, two guests debate mandatory HPV vaccinations for school-age girls.
· Pricing Drugs: Ray Suarez focuses on efforts by states to make prescription drugs more affordable. His guests are Marjorie Powell of PHARMA and Kevin Concannon, director of the Iowa Department of Human Services.
· Assisted Suicide: A Case Study: Lee Hochberg guides viewers through the U.S. Supreme Court case concerning Oregon’s assisted suicide law; Margaret Warner interviews doctors and activists regarding the controversy.
· Embryonic Stem Cell Tests: Susan Dentzer studies two new techniques for creating stem cells and the ethical and religious concerns surrounding them.
3 parts, 56 minutes, 57 minutes, and 72 minutes.