Health Policy Issues in Popular Culture
TV’s popular hospital dramas are regularly addressing such important national health policy issues as patients’ rights, managed care, the right to die, and racial disparities in health care, according to As Seen on TV: Health Policy Issues in TV’s Medical Dramas, a new study of the 2000-2001 television season. At the same time, the study found that many of the most hotly debated national health policy issues such as prescription drug coverage for the elderly or coverage of the uninsured are not featured on these fictional shows.
