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Critical Condition
What Happens When You're Sick and Uninsured?
| Length: | 82 min |
| Released: | 2008 |
| Ages: |
College Adult |
Buy Online Streaming
What happens when you're sick and uninsured? This film’s unforgettable subjects discover the cost can include your job, health, home, savings, and even your life. Critical Condition puts an intimate human face on America's growing health care crisis by chronicling the struggles of a diverse group of uninsured Americans as they battle critical illness over a two-year period.
Joe, a doorman for fifteen years, loses his finger, his job, and ultimately his health insurance. Unable to afford the medication or doctor visits he needs to manage his progressing liver disease, Joe is hospitalized repeatedly before passing away.
Karen loses her insurance when her deteriorating health forces her to quit her job as an apartment manager. When she begins experiencing severe abdominal pains, doctors are unwilling to see her without insurance. After a year without treatment, she finally arranges to see a specialist who diagnoses her with stage 3 ovarian cancer.
Carlos, a chef at a French restaurant, has a painful, debilitating back deformity. After learning that the local hospital will not perform surgery, Carlos becomes convinced that he must travel to Mexico to seek treatment.
Hector takes medical leave from his warehouse job as a when his diabetes necessitates a foot amputation. His loss of job and insurance force him to attempt to repair his broken temporary prosthesis on his own.
Access to health care is a moral issue that bridges the partisan political divide. These stories vividly illustrate the enormous costs—in dollars and human suffering— when the public foots the medical bill.
Joe, a doorman for fifteen years, loses his finger, his job, and ultimately his health insurance. Unable to afford the medication or doctor visits he needs to manage his progressing liver disease, Joe is hospitalized repeatedly before passing away.
Karen loses her insurance when her deteriorating health forces her to quit her job as an apartment manager. When she begins experiencing severe abdominal pains, doctors are unwilling to see her without insurance. After a year without treatment, she finally arranges to see a specialist who diagnoses her with stage 3 ovarian cancer.
Carlos, a chef at a French restaurant, has a painful, debilitating back deformity. After learning that the local hospital will not perform surgery, Carlos becomes convinced that he must travel to Mexico to seek treatment.
Hector takes medical leave from his warehouse job as a when his diabetes necessitates a foot amputation. His loss of job and insurance force him to attempt to repair his broken temporary prosthesis on his own.
Access to health care is a moral issue that bridges the partisan political divide. These stories vividly illustrate the enormous costs—in dollars and human suffering— when the public foots the medical bill.
"This is a very important documentary. . . For millions of uninsured Americans, care is not available, and they suffer serious consequences as a result."
‒Robert J. Blendon, Sc.D., Harvard School of Public Health/ Kennedy School of Government
"In the tradition of journalist Edward R. Murrow, Weisberg tells truths that afflict the comfortable, couched in fundamental American values of fairness and accountability."
‒Pat Aufderheide, In These Times
"This film is a must-see for anyone interested in our nation's health care system."
‒Ron Pollack, Executive Director, Families USA
"Highly Recommended. This poignant portrait of working Americans who cannot afford to seek medical help is sure to be a discussion starter in the classroom."
‒Educational Media Reviews Online
‒Robert J. Blendon, Sc.D., Harvard School of Public Health/ Kennedy School of Government
"In the tradition of journalist Edward R. Murrow, Weisberg tells truths that afflict the comfortable, couched in fundamental American values of fairness and accountability."
‒Pat Aufderheide, In These Times
"This film is a must-see for anyone interested in our nation's health care system."
‒Ron Pollack, Executive Director, Families USA
"Highly Recommended. This poignant portrait of working Americans who cannot afford to seek medical help is sure to be a discussion starter in the classroom."
‒Educational Media Reviews Online
Tiburon International Film Festival, 2008
Arizona International Film Festival, 2008
Worldfest-Houston International Film Festival, 2008
Film Society of Lincoln Center's Independents Night, 2008
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, 2008
Critical Condition is produced and directed by Roger Weisberg, whose previous 25 productions have won over one hundred awards, including Emmy, DuPont-Columbia, and Peabody awards, as well as an two Academy Award nominations (Sound and Fury, 2001 and Why Can't We Be a Family Again?, 2003). Other films include: Waging a Living, Rosevelt's America, Aging Out, and A Brooklyn Family Tale)
Arizona International Film Festival, 2008
Worldfest-Houston International Film Festival, 2008
Film Society of Lincoln Center's Independents Night, 2008
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, 2008
Critical Condition is produced and directed by Roger Weisberg, whose previous 25 productions have won over one hundred awards, including Emmy, DuPont-Columbia, and Peabody awards, as well as an two Academy Award nominations (Sound and Fury, 2001 and Why Can't We Be a Family Again?, 2003). Other films include: Waging a Living, Rosevelt's America, Aging Out, and A Brooklyn Family Tale)
