TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Health Care Horror Stories In PBS' 'P.O.V.' Will Leave Viewers Feeling Sick, Depressed

ADVERTISEMENT

By WALT BELCHER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 30, 2008

If you lose your job, you lose your health insurance and then you lose your life.

That's an increasing tragedy in a country that is supposed to have the best medical treatment in the world.

Unfortunately, it's the most expensive in the world. And if you can't afford it, then you might not get it.

If the current economic down skid hasn't already gotten you in a blue funk, check out "P.O.V. Critical Condition" at 9 tonight on PBS (WEDU, Channel 3) and you'll be really depressed.

There's no doubt that there's a health care crisis. But most people with insurance coverage don't think about it. And as the economy goes south, it's only going to get worse.

In "Critical Condition," filmmaker Roger Weisberg follows four ordinary, hard-working Americans who have health care horror stories.

•Joe Stornaiuolo, a doorman for 15 years, loses his finger, then his job, and ultimately his health insurance. Burdened by the costs of medication and doctor visits to treat a chronic liver disease, Joe is hospitalized four times in one year, running up bills of more than $60,000. Under stress, illness and financial woes, he wages a losing battle to get Social Security disability benefits before his time runs out.

•When Karen Dove's health starts declining, she has to quit her job as an apartment manager. She can't get insurance. For more than a year, she has trouble getting treatment, and when she finally does, she learns she has advanced ovarian cancer. Surgery and chemotherapy improve her condition but plunges the family into debt. When the money run outs, so does the treatment and all hope for survival.

•Hector Cardenas, a warehouse manager with diabetes, opts to amputate his infected foot before losing his job and medical benefits. When his insurance coverage lapses, he struggles to repair his broken temporary prosthesis on his own. He cannot work without a permanent prosthesis, but he cannot afford the permanent prosthesis without a job that offers basic medical benefits.

•Carlos Benitez, an uninsured chef, suffers from a severe back deformity that has caused him 15 years of pain, but he can't afford the corrective surgery. A chance encounter with a doctor who takes pity on him is his "miracle" when the doctor waives the $300,000 cost of the operation.

VIDBITS: It happened so fast, we also didn't notice. And we certainly don't miss it. Fox yanked "Do Not Disturb" off the lineup last week after only three outings. I predicted this because "DND" was a sad, loud, sorry excuse for a sitcom. Jerry O'Connell starred as the leering, lustful manager of a small New York hotel.

•For those who miss "The Simple Life," Paris Hilton is back as host and task master on a new MTV reality series debuting at 10 tonight. "Paris Hilton's My New BFF" pits 18 young dolts in a contest to become Hilton's "best friend." It involves kissing up to and being abused by her highness.

•The 2008 TV season is still young, but based on the early ratings numbers Fox apparently has a keeper in "Fringe," the new quirky sci-fi mystery series that appears to have been cloned from "The X-Files." It's not a breakout hit, but it has been solid so far. It continues tonight at 9.

•CBS also may have a keeper, "The Mentalist," which oddly enough runs opposite "Fringe." Simon Baker stars as a former celebrity psychic who was faking for a profit. Now he's solving crimes with his fake psychic con skills.

TUNE IN TONIGHT

NCIS, 8 p.m., CBS

Mark Harmon leads his merry band of investigators in an investigation of a suicide that probably is murder. Last week's season debut racked up some impressive ratings.

Walt Belcher may be reached at (813) 259-7654.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT