Righteous rage with a dash of humor is the dominant attitude of Lattanzio Firmian and Alberto Baudo's We'll Take Care of You, a documentary about the malfeasance of big pharmaceutical companies that not only knowingly promote unsafe drugs but also benefit from government complicity, which allows the companies to keep on profiting at the expense of patients' health and, in some instances, their lives. While several companies and products are singled out for criticism, the major focus here is on Vioxx, a medicine for treating arthritis pain, and its maker Merck, which withheld research on Vioxx's role in causing heart attacks in order to protect the drug's marketability—a course of action that may have led to as many as 60,000 deaths. Criticism is also directed at the various drug firms' aggressive advertising, at the whole prescription drug peddling system (in which sales representatives are rewarded for the quantities of product they persuade doctors to prescribe), and at doctors themselves, who fail to stay adequately informed about potential risks to their patients. The documentary also targets the FDA, an agency accused of not only overlooking Big Pharma's predatory and morally dubious practices but also actively shielding the companies (the numerous instances of FDA staffers taking lucrative jobs with pharmaceutical companies that they were lately regulating is seen here as, at the very least, suspect). The presentation, which incorporates graphics that include excerpts from spaghetti westerns, animated Disney films, and pro wrestling, is admittedly flamboyant, but the evidence presented in clips from congressional hearings and interviews with whistle-blowers, physicians, and consumers, is persuasively damning (if clearly one-sided). Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)
We'll Take Care of You
(2007) 72 min. DVD: $31.95 ($189.95 w/PPR). National Film Network. ISBN: 978-0-8026-0830-7. Volume 23, Issue 4
We'll Take Care of You
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