Javascript Menu by Deluxe-Menu.com

Bullfrog Films


610-779-8226; 800-543-3764; P.O. Box 149 Oley, PA 19547
Email ListRss Info
Bookmark and Share
Bullfrog Films

is a leading source of educational DVDs & videos, with a collection of over 700 titles in these main subject areas:

  Environment
  Globalization
  Sustainability
  Climate Change
  Social Justice
  Developing World
  Indigenous Peoples
  Earth Science
  Life Science
  Political Science
  Performing Arts
  Women’s Studies
  Children’s Films
 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

QUICK LINKS
  Newsletter
  FAQ
  Facebook
  YouTube
  Twitter
  Instagram
 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .

ORDER ONLINE
Our site enables you to order securely online with a credit card or purchase order, or you can use our printable order form for faxing or mailing.
 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  Email



List

Receive occasional notice of our new releases and special offers. Your address won’t be traded or sold.



Dr. Feelgood
Dealer or Healer?

The case of Dr. William Hurwitz educates audiences on the complexities involved in opioid painkiller prescriptions.


A printer-friendly version of this page 84 minutes
SDH Captioned>>

Directed by Eve Marson
Produced by Sara Goldblatt, p.g.a., Eve Marson, p.g.a.
Co-Producer: Kip Pastor
Executive Producers: Alison Block, Timothy Poore
Original Score: Music: Jacob Yoffee
Editors: Adam Bolt, Michael X. Flores, Andrew McAllister, Avner Shiloah
Cinematography: Jeff Bierman
Writers: David Boodell, Sara Goldblatt, Mark Monroe, Eve Marson
A Bungalow Pictures presentation in association with Diamond Docs





"Illustrates the real challenges that communities continue to face in terms of addiction." Dr. Stephen J. Ziegler, Assoc Prof, Public Policy, Indiana Univ-Purdue Univ Fort Wayne
[Note: Community screenings of DR. FEELGOOD can be booked at Bullfrog Communities.]

The story of Dr. William Hurwitz - a preeminent pain specialist sentenced to 25 years in prison for drug trafficking - provides a window into the ethical dilemma of opioid prescriptions. Painkillers give doctors tremendous power to relieve pain, a primary goal of any physician. But this power begets trouble when the same drugs can lead to addiction, abuse and death.

In 2004 Dr. William Hurwitz was convicted of over 50 counts of narcotics distribution and handed a 25-year prison sentence. DR. FEELGOOD traces Dr. Hurwitz's trial and eventual appeal, detailing the events that led to his arrest.

Testimonies from the witnesses in Dr. Hurwitz's case contradict one another - some revere him, while others condemn him. Taken together, their accounts reveal a profile of a compassionate yet flawed doctor. The film, in telling his story, underscores the tension between every patient's right to pain relief and the lawful need for drug control. There could not be a more critical time to spark discussion on the topic, and call for careful thought and action.



Grade Level: 10 - 12, College, Adults
US Release Date: 2016     Copyright Date: 2016
DVD ISBN: 1-941545-69-6



Reviews
"Illustrates the real challenges that communities continue to face in terms of addiction...Dr. Hurwitz's methods and outcomes have raised many legitimate concerns, but the challenge still remains: How can we develop prescribing policies that ensure appropriate access while at the same time prevent abuse? This documentary can help advance discussion on these important challenges."
Dr. Stephen J. Ziegler, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne

"Engrossing documentary...Dr Feelgood examines the case of Dr Hurwitz with great balance."
Martin Billheimer, Counterpunch

"As millions of Americans continue to struggle with opioid addiction and overdose deaths continue to rise, this film will be useful for initiating lively classroom and community discussions and debates about medical ethics and physician compassion and responsibility and the boundaries between treating and policing patients. The film will also raise important questions about why we continue to lack safe and effective treatments for chronic pain and why pharmaceutical companies get away with misleading marketing practices."
Dr. Shannon M. Monnat, Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology, Demography, and Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University

"Thought-provoking."
Candace Smith, Booklist

"The film underscores the tension between a patient's right to pain relief and the lawful need for drug control."
Karen Garloch, The Charlotte Observer

"Dr. Feelgood succeeds in showing how opioid analgesics can give some pain patients their life back, while taking it away from others. It's also a timely reminder of the role that physicians played in creating the epidemic of opioid addiction, and how important they are in curbing the problem."
Dr. Khary Rigg, Assistant Professor of Mental Health Law and Policy, University of South Florida

"Marson shows viewers several sides of the controversial topic...The multiple perspectives reveal that there are no easy answers to this complex issue."
This Week In New York

"Dr. Feelgood is a documentary that will challenge the trust we have in medicine...The film exposes critical drivers that have enabled legal, doctor-prescribed, therapeutical treatments to become the number one cause of preventable deaths in the US. The lines between medical practice and drug dealing are so blurred - the ability to distinguish the two after viewing this documentary is nearly impossible."
Dr. Sheryl Strasser, Associate Professor of Public Health, Georgia State University

"Provocative...Raises important and substantial questions about an issue that has only become increasingly relevant in recent years."
Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter

"Engrossing...Marson's lively narrative...tell[s] a story that's ethically complex yet easy to follow."
Dennis Harvey, Variety

"Thought-provoking...The documentary is an important addition to the current discussion about the opioid epidemic."
Annika Andersson, Huffington Post

"Remarkably evenhanded...This documentary effectively illustrates that the issues are not as clear-cut as they might seem once the argument moves from the abstract to the personal. Recommended."
Video Librarian

"A sad and conflicting story of a brilliant and unconventional physician...Recommended for upper level high school through college."
Ellen R. Paterson, Science Books and Films

"Balanced...An excellent film to screen for a moderated discussion afterward...A good addition to curricula and public health collections dealing with pain and/or addiction issues."
John Clark, School Library Journal




Select your institution type

DVDs include public performance rights.





DVD Features
DVD includes the original 84-min version and a 52-min classroom version, plus SDH captions for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, and scene selection.

Links
Host a community screening
The film's website


Awards and Festivals
LA Film Festival
Austin Film Festival
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
Tallgrass Film Festival
ReadingFilmFEST

Subjects
Addiction
American Studies
Bioethics
Criminal Justice
Ethics
Health
Law
Medicine
Nursing
Pain Management
Psychology
Social Psychology
Sociology
Psychopharmacology


Related Titles

The Medicine in Marijuana
What we know, and what we don't know, about the most popular new medicine in the U.S.

Money & Medicine (New Edition)
An investigation of the dangers the nation faces from runaway health care spending as well as the dangers patients face from over-diagnosis and over-treatment.

Addiction Incorporated
The true story of the tobacco companies' commitment to addicting the human brain and how the world came to know about it.

The Waiting Room
A day in the life of a public hospital's ER waiting room captures what it means for millions of Americans to live without health insurance.

Dead Mums Don't Cry
Grace Kodindo's heroic efforts in Chad to lower the rate of maternal mortality, one of the UN's Millennium Development Goals.

Cuba: The Accidental Revolution - Pt. 2
In spite of the economic crisis and US embargo, the Cuban health system is an outstanding success story around the world.

The Great Health Service Swindle
Reversing the brain drain in doctors and nurses from developing countries.

The Health Protestors
Health care advocates demand universal health care for the world's population at international convention in Dhaka.

A Healthy Start
The debate over women's health care in South Africa.

An Act of Faith
A group of health professionals tours the most deprived regions of South Africa providing care.

The Hospice
Workers at the Mother of Mercy hospice in Zambia provide palliative care for those afflicted with AIDS.

Paying the Price
Pharmaceutical companies block generic drugs, threatening the lives of millions of Africans with AIDS.


info@bullfrogfilms.com


Home | About Us | Subjects | Specials | Titles A - Z | New Releases | FAQ | Order Information | Contact

Website design by HYPERSPHERE.
Pages generated using Film Distribution Software™

Bullfrog & Bullfrog Films are registered trademarks of Bullfrog Films, Inc.
All photographs are protected by copyright. For permission to use,
and high resolution press stills, please contact Bullfrog Films.

©2009 Bullfrog Films, Inc. All rights reserved.