Remove "Afflicted" Docuseries from Netflix Now
Netflix executives need to hear from as many people as possible that the the problems with this film are real and serious. The participants are already suffering for their participation, receiving intense online harassment, having their professional reputations questioned, and having friends turn against them. And if “Afflicted” remains on Netflix, it will hurt many more people. Many people living with chronic illnesses, including those depicted in “Afflicted”, are routinely denied disability benefits. Some are abandoned by their families and fall into poverty, homelessness, and food insecurity when they become too ill to work. The stigma surrounding these conditions among health care providers poses a barrier to accessing quality medical care, putting patients at risk. The disbelief of loved ones—and the culture at large—contributes to the high rates of suicide among patients with these conditions.
Add your voice to the original group of writers, activists, artists, filmmakers, physicians, scientists, and several "Afflicted" participants who have signed an open letter to Netflix executives. Read the here letter here: https://medium.com/@afflicted/open-letter-to-netflix-regarding-the-afflicted-docuseries-d2b5263c9eb6
ORIGINAL SIGNERS TO OPEN LETTER:
Sini Anderson
Documentary Filmmaker
"The Punk Singer" and "So Sick"
Jennifer Brea
Filmmaker, "Unrest"
Mario R. Capecchi
Distinguished Professor
University of Utah School of Medicine
Department of Human Genetics
Lawrence Carter-Long
Director of Communications
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
Bela Chheda, MD
Center for Complex Diseases
Laurel Crosby, PhD
Director of Innovation
CFS Research Center
Stanford Genome Technology Center
Janet L Dafoe, PhD
Child Psychologist in Private Practice
Palo Alto, California, USA
Ronald W. Davis, PhD
Professor of Biochemistry and Genetics
Stanford University
Lena Dunham
Writer, Actor, Director, Producer
Maya Dusenbery
Author, "Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick"
Eva Hagberg Fisher
PhD Candidate, UC Berkeley
Author, "How To Be Loved: A Memoir of Lifesaving Friendship"
Maureen Hanson, Ph.D.
Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics
Cornell University
H. Craig Heller, PhD
Lorry Lokey/Business Wire
Professor of Biology and Human Biology
Stanford University
Judith Heumann
Disability Rights Advocate
Ford Fellow, Ford Foundation
Ally Hilfiger
Designer, producer, author "BITE ME"
Deborah Hoffmann
Documentary Filmmaker
David L. Kaufman, MD
Center for Complex Diseases
Porochista Khakpour
Author, "Sick: A Memoir," "The Last Illusion," and "Sons and Other Flammable Objects"
Nancy Klimas MD
Director, Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine
Nova Southeastern University
Director, Miami VA Medical Center GWI and CFS/ME Program
Miami, Florida, USA
Jim LeBrecht
Documentary Filmmaker
Board Member at Disability Rights
Education and Defense Fund
Michele Lent Hirsch
Author, "Invisible: How Young Women with Serious Health Issues Navigate Work, Relationships, and the Pressure to Seem Just Fine"
Monica Lewinsky
Anti-bullying activist and writer
Mohsen Nemat-Gorgani, Ph.D.
Research Scientist, Stanford University
Jenara Nerenberg
UC Berkeley journalist
Founder, The Neurodiversity Project
Abby Norman
Author, "Ask Me About My Uterus"
Meghan O'Rourke
Author, "What's Wrong with Me?" and "The Long Goodbye"
Robert D Phair PhD
Chief Science Officer
Integrative Bioinformatics Inc
Mountain View, CA
Anand Ramasubramanian, Ph. D.
Associate Professor
Chemical & Materials Engineering
San José State University
Julie Rehmeyer
Author, "Though the Shadowlands: A Science Writer’s Odyssey into an Illness Science Doesn’t Understand"
Contributing Editor, "Discover"
Frances Reid
Documentary Filmmaker
Amit Kumar Saha, PhD
Research Engineer
Stanford University
Peidong Shen, PhD, Scientist
Stanford Genome Technology Center
Lars M. Steinmetz, PhD
Professor of Genetics
Stanford University School of Medicine
Ronald G Tompkins, MD, ScD
Summer M Redstone Professor of Surgery
Harvard Medical School
Director, Center for Surgery, Innovation & Bioengineering,
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
David Tuller, DrPH
Senior Fellow in Public Health and Journalism
Center for Global Public Health
UC Berkeley
Michael VanElzakker, PhD
Research Fellow, Psychiatric Neuroscience Division
Harvard Medical School & Massachusetts General Hospital
Instructor, Tufts University Psychology
Alice Wong
Founder and Director
Disability Visibility Project
Wenzhong Xiao, Ph.D.
Immune-Metabolism Computational Center
Massachusetts General Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Maysoon Zayid
Comedian, Writer, Disability Advocate
"AFFLICTED" PARTICIPANTS:
Jesse Bercowetz
Artist and Masters candidate
Harvard Divinity School
Nick Dinnerstein
Musician, Music teacher
Brother of Bekah Dinnerstein
New York, NY
Jill Edelstein LCSW
Psychotherapist/Clinical Social Worker in
Private Practice
New York, NY, USA
Janine Feczko
Documentary Film and Television Editor
Jamison Hill
Author, Freelance Writer
Bylines: "The New Tork Times" "The Los Angeles Times" "The Washington Post"
Pilar Olave
Actress/Musician/VoiceOver Artist
Los Angeles, CA
Star Rinaldi
Jake Sidwell
Composer, "Final Space"
Nashville, TN