Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare

Healthcare for all Americans is a noble and ambitious goal. But, how that care is and will be administered is the subject of controversy as healthcare costs skyrocket and the medical industry swings to sick care not disease prevention. Documentary filmmakers Susan Fromke and Matthew Heineman explore this contemporary issue that affects us all in “Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare.”

Laura's Review: DNS

DNS

Robin's Review: B-

This honest investigation into our healthcare system is retreaded material that echoes earlier docs on the subject - “Food, Inc.,” “Michael Moore’s “Sick” and last year’s “Forks over Knives” cover much the same ground as “Escape Fire.” This is a statistics rich documentary that uses numbers and talking head interviews to tell us something that is plain common sense. The stats trotted forth are many. The US consumes over $300 billion in pharmaceuticals per year, more than the rest of the world combined. Medical mistakes are the third leading cause of death in the US, behind only cancer and heart disease. It is proven that proper nutrition helps to fight and prevent chronic diseases like diabetes. More than 50% of all Americans are either overweight or obese. Healthcare costs are going through the roof – if prices for consumer goods matched the increasingly inflating health costs since 1945, we would be paying $48 for a gallon of milk and $112 for a dozen oranges. The above is the kind of eye-opening information that helps “Escape Fire” to be an educational documentary and, for those not familiar with the healthcare industry in the US and how it is run, enlightening. The filmmakers wear there hearts on their sleeves but everything they say makes good sense. In a nutshell, if we take care of ourselves with proper diet and exercise we can fight the diseases that plague us and reduce health costs nationally. If you have not seen any of the films I mention earlier, “Escape Fire” will be a learning and thought provoking experience.