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ABC NEWS CLOSE-UP: WOMEN'S HEALTH: A QUESTION OF SURVIVAL (TV)

Summary

One in this occasional documentary series presented by ABC News. This edition, reported by Marlene Sanders, examines the special health needs of women. The program begins by talking about intrauterine devices (IUDs) in terms of how they are composed and work as a contraceptive. Next, the program focuses on a recent House subcommittee meeting on public health and the environment which discussed the potentially dangerous health ramifications of IUDs, specifically the Dalkon Shield brand's model. The program looks at the process through which the Food and Drug Administration offers its recommendations for contraceptives such as the Dalkon Shield, and some resulting controversy. Next, the program examines other contraceptives such as condoms, diaphragms, and -- most notably -- "the pill." The program looks at how oral birth control pills work and questions that have been raised about the pill's safety. Dr. Stanford Wessler, associate dean at NYU's Postgraduate Medical School, talks about how the estrogen component in birth control pills could lead to blood clotting. The program further addresses how, in the future, birth control packaging may include additional in-package literature detailing the potential health problems associated with a particular contraceptive. Next, the program talks about menopause, focusing on a group of women that use acupuncture to relieve certain health issues associated with menopause. Dr. Kenneth J. Ryan, chief of staff at Boston Women's Hospital, discusses the relationship between estrogen and menopausal symptoms. Also, the program discusses how diethylstilbestrol (DES) drugs have led to cancer cases in women whose mothers took it during their pregnancies. Next, the program talks about breast cancer. Sanders visits with mastectomy patients that meet at a Y.M.C.A. in Westwood, California to talk about their recoveries since losing their breasts. Then, the program discusses various breast cancer detection techniques. Dr. Philip Strax, director at the Guttman Institute, discusses mammograms. Next, Sanders talks about masectomies and the questions the surgery raises for women's health, both physical and mental. Dr. Lester Hibbard, medical professor at University of Southern California, discusses how necessary most hysterectomies and related surgeries are, and the potential role that male chauvinism could play in the misguided diagnosis of such surgeries for women by male doctors. Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizens' Health Research Group, talks about how the removal of the womb may affect women on a psychological basis, and why some doctors may prescribe hysterectomies to cure women's emotional problems. Finally, the program visits the Feminist Women's Health Center in Los Angeles -- the first and most influential women's self-help clinic in the United States -- where women are taught such techniques as breast self-examination. Sanders closes the program with her commentary on how women need to handle their health concerns and consider their future survival. Includes commercials.

Preservation of the Post–World War II American Television Documentary Collection is supported in part by a Federal Save America’s Treasures grant administered by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Details

  • NETWORK: ABC
  • DATE: January 5, 1976 10:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:58:44
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: T:04920
  • GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
  • SUBJECT HEADING: She Made It Collection (Marlene Sanders)
  • SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1973-1988
  • COMMERCIALS:
    • TV - Commercials - Al-Anon support group
    • TV - Commercials - Ben-Gay pain-relief lotion
    • TV - Commercials - Cling Free dryer sheets
    • TV - Commercials - Dentu-Creme denture cleaner
    • TV - Commercials - Desitin hand lotion
    • TV - Commercials - Diet Pepsi soda
    • TV - Commercials - Geritol iron supplement
    • TV - Commercials - Hold cough suppressants
    • TV - Commercials - J.C. Penney stores
    • TV - Commercials - Momentum muscular backache formula
    • TV - Commercials - Nytol sleeping pills
    • TV - Commercials - Polident denture cleaners
    • TV - Commercials - Woolite clothes cleaner

CREDITS

  • Av Westin … Executive Producer
  • Marlene Sanders … Producer, Director, Writer
  • Ann S. Hayward … Associate Producer
  • Marlene Sanders … Host
  • Margaret Osmer … Reporter
  • Hilary Brown … Reporter
  • Lester Hibbard
  • Kenneth J. Ryan
  • Philip Strax
  • Stanford Wessler
  • Sidney Wolfe