“Bad Blood” Documentary to be Shown on Georgia Public Television June 2
Horizons in Hemophilia, May 2011
Bad Blood: A Cautionary Tale, the documentary that traces how factor concentrate became contaminated with HIV in the late 70s and early 80s, will be shown on Georgia Public Television (GPB) Thursday evening, June 2. This film, by two-time Emmy Award winning documentary producer Marilyn Ness, tells the story from the perspective of six families affected by the tragedy and the doctors, nurses, and scientists who cared for them.
Ten years in the making, the documentary chronicles how the medicine to treat hemophilia infected 10,000 Americans with HIV and 15,000 with hepatitis C. Faced with evidence that pharmaceutical companies and government regulators knew the medicine was contaminated with deadly viruses, the bleeding disorder community launched a powerful and inspiring fight to right the system that failed them and to make it safer for all. Patients and families demanded more stringent regulation of industry by the government and spurred government reform over the safety of the U.S. blood supply.
The film brings together patients, doctors, drug manufacturers and government regulators to revisit how the worst medical disaster of the 20th century was allowed to occur. Changes to the system have led to safer medications and no new infections of HIV from factor concentrate have occurred since 1985.
The broadcast version of Bad Blood is a special 53-minute adaptation. The feature-length DVD (82 minutes) is available for purchase from www.ShopPBS.org. Netflix is expected to have the DVD by June 14. More information is available at www.badblooddocumentary.com.
Hemophilia of Georgia will announce the local broadcast channels and times on www.hog.org and the HoG Facebook page as soon as they are made available by GPB.