Unnatural Causes

Originally aired on PBS, the near-four-hour documentary series Unnatural Causes examines various social, cultural, and economic factors that may determine the quality of medical attention that patients receive under the U.S. healthcare system. Divided into seven parts, the first takes an hour-long look at the connections between good health, financial well-being, and race, while the other six half-hour episodes address particular healthcare inequities relating to non-white populations, including African-American pre-natal care, diabetes among Native American populations, and health issues faced by Latino immigrants. While the series effectively points out disturbing correlations between poor healthcare and race or ethnicity, it also details how residents in lower-income neighborhoods have uncommonly high levels of illness (in fact, the most ironic segment chronicles the physical and emotional health crises facing laid-off workers at a Michigan refrigerator factory run by a Swedish company, and then compares their situation to their laid-off Swedish counterparts, who do not face the same level of stress due to their government's policies). A powerful reminder of the strong social and political factors that can also influence our well-being in addition to our genes and behaviors, Unnatural Causes is recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)