Coming to Netflix tomorrow, Friday, July 27:
THE BLEEDING EDGE
Director:
Kirby Dick
Premiere:
Tribeca 2018
Select Festivals:
Seattle
About:
An exposé about the largely unregulated, untested medical device industry and the harmful effects of its products on patients.
Dick, joined by his longtime producer Amy Ziering as well as producer Amy Herdy, presents a jaw-dropping look at the dark side of the $400 billion medical device industry. While acknowledging the many benefits technology has brought to medicine, the film focuses on several devices that have had a disastrous impact on their recipients, including birth control device Essure; vaginal mesh, commonly used in gynecological surgery; the hysterectomy-performing da Vinci robot; and cobalt orthopedic replacements. The project is particularly effective in its use of archival and medical films, but otherwise follows the fairly conventional approach that Dick’s films typically take, with patient profiles and expert talking heads dominating. While not likely to have the same incendiary potential of his most recent films, it serves as an effective – and disturbing – awareness-building tool to expose dangerous devices and shady practices enabled by the regulatory capture of the FDA, which works to benefit the medical device industry rather than safeguard the hgelth of patients.
what (not) to doc 