Case Studies/Profiles

There are places in America where the infant mortality rate echoes that of a developing world country. This ABC News program travels to Memphis, Tennessee-epicenter of the nation's worst infant death statistics-to investigate the issue and explore possible solutions. Viewers visit a cemetery with the heartrending epithet Babyland" and witness an unusual pairing between a black, teen mother-to-be and a white, suburban church volunteer trying to prevent another tragic outcome. Studying premature birth, the main factor behind infant mortality, the program also profiles Memphis residents dedicated to raising awareness of, and spurring action on, our healthcare system's most deplorable failing. Viewer discretion advised. Original ABC News broadcast title: Babyland. (43 minutes)"

Combat-zone medicine has inspired innovations in civilian trauma care for decades. A particularly compelling model can be found in Iraq, where injured troops have a 90 percent chance of survival. The success rate is due to the U.S. Army's 86th Combat Support Hospital, formerly one of Saddam Hussein's elite medical centers. This sobering and profoundly moving documentary shows viewers the facility's daily tragedies and occasional triumphs, going inside operating rooms with doctors and nurses who display skill and dedication under agonizing pressure. Filmed over a two-month period, the program follows first-response medevac teams to crash and combat sites, depicts surgeries and amputations in close detail, and records the frustrations and reflections of men and women who touch and treat the effects of war every day. The perspectives of traumatized patients are also explored. Viewer discretion is advised. Includes nudity. An HBO Production. (65 minutes)

New York City's Bellevue Hospital has a renowned psychiatric emergency center that treats 7,000 men and women annually. This gritty program takes a daunting look at the daily operation of the center by focusing on a handful of people as they struggle with their illnesses. The entire experience is presented, from arrests of the criminally insane and admissions of new patients to long-term treatment and therapy groups. In addition to working with mental disorders, doctors and nurses also confront drug and alcohol addiction in an environment where 50 percent of their patients have substance abuse problems. An HBO Production. (77 minutes)

What is it like to live with a life-threatening illness? Can fear, anger, and joy be translated into movement? In this program, journalist Bill Moyers and filmmaker David Grubin give viewers a rare glimpse into dancer/choreographer Bill T. Jones's highly acclaimed dance, Still/Here." At workshops around the country, people facing life-threatening illnesses are asked to remember the highs and lows of their lives, and even imagine their own deaths. They then transform their feelings into expressive movement, which Jones incorporates into the dance performed later in the program. Jones demonstrates for Moyers the movements of his own life story-his first encounter with white people, confusion over his sexuality, his partner Arnie Zane's untimely death from AIDS, and Jones's own HIV status. "My job," Jones tells Moyers, "is to evoke the spirit of survival." (57 minutes)"

Comatose after a car accident, Paul Nadler defied medical prognoses that he would never walk or talk again. This award-winning program illustrates his recovery from severe brain trauma and his return to a highly physical and creative lifestyle. Using the innovative visual approach Nadler developed as a television director, the film allows the artist to explain his frustrations and goals in his own unique manner while interweaving the commentary of friends, family, neurologists, and therapists. Nadler's ongoing difficulties with concentration, short-term memory, impulse control, and slurred speech are contrasted with his dogged insistence on snowboarding, rock climbing, video production, and stage acting. Contains harsh language. (51 minutes)

Produced in San Francisco, a city rich in Chinese culture, this program explores the ancient healing techniques of Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM. Dr. Effie Poy Yew Chow, a registered nurse and one of the foremost experts in TCM, guides students through the philosophy and methods behind various TCM techniques-such as acupuncture, qi gong, and herbal remedies. Viewers will visit a lab that processes medicinal herbs and gain insight into the TCM concept of chi, while learning about the ways in which chi can become blocked and the special approaches needed to remove blockages. Physical demonstrations of acupuncture, qi gong, and other procedures are included in the program. (25 minutes)

For someone in desperate need of a kidney transplant, a willing donor holds the key to life. And for someone desperately poor, the opportunity to sell one of their kidneys could mean their family's survival. Though such transactions are illegal, many people, including some doctors and medical professionals, feel that they are justified. In this ABC News program, correspondent Gillian Findlay tracks the ghoulish trade from Israel through Turkey to Moldova. Interviews with patients, doctors, and donors reveal a covert world of desperation and greed. The report also raises the question: do people really want a world in which the sale of human organs is legal? (23 minutes)

Rated the best hospital system in America for a decade by U.S. News & World Report, Johns Hopkins Medicine is renowned for its outstanding quality of care, world-class medical research, groundbreaking techniques, and academic leadership. This riveting ten-part ABC News series captures the hospital's dedicated medical professionals in action, as they share their thoughts on their work, their patients, and their lives. 10-part series, 48-51 minutes each.

At Camphill Village U.S.A., there are no patients and no caregivers. Only villagers live and work there-people with and without mental disabilities whose joint mission is to help each other enjoy meaningful lives. This program uses scenes of community activities and interviews with villagers to explore the Camphill movement's remarkably effective group living model. Camphill Village U.S.A., where inclusion means everything, is living, loving proof that the principles of Rudolf Steiner, as put into action by Dr. Karl Konig, can make a wonderful difference. (58 minutes)

Surveying the vast biodiversity of the medicinal plant world, this program examines the challenges facing countries rich in such natural resources. The video presents interviews with numerous alternative health experts-including Dr. Jean-Pierre Willem, renowned surgeon, ethnologist, and the last field assistant of Dr. Albert Schweitzer-and documents their knowledge in a wide range of herbal and plant-based treatments. It also studies controversies surrounding the patenting of organisms with medicinal potential, such as Peru's maca root-a clear demonstration that the interests of powerful pharmaceutical companies don't always suit those of indigenous peoples. (51 minutes)