For Immediate Release

Contact: Brian Magee, bmagee@americanhumanist.org, 202-238-9088 ext. 105

(Washington, DC, Feb 27, 2013)—Brain surgeon and filmmaker Dr. Vivekanand Palavali has released his second documentary, Bitter Pill, which takes an in-depth look at the problems with American health care that unnecessarily drive up costs, reduce access and drag down the quality of care.

Bitter Pill is partnering with the American Humanist Association’s Reason Cinema to promote the film. The American Humanist Association previously promoted Dr. Palavali‘s first documentary, Creator of God: A Brain Surgeon’s Story, which addressed how the concept of “God” came into human existence and chronicled his personal journey toward becoming an atheist.

“When it comes to the well-being of its people, the wealthiest democracy in the world that is supposed to be by the people, of the people and for the people has failed to be for all the people of the nation,” said Dr. Palavali. “The ‘bitter pill’ that is necessary to rid the country’s health care system of the cancer that’s killing it is the single-payer system that has been proven to work in countries all over the world.”

Dr. Palavali’s new film arrives at the heels of the February 20th TIME Magazine cover story, “Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us,” by Steven Brill. Though not connected with the film, the article discussed the need for a better, less costly health care industry.

The film reveals issues not as deeply covered in the popular TIME exposé, including greed, corruption, defensive medicine and the revolving door of lobbyists from the medical industry that have stopped Washington from properly dealing with these issues. The film argues that the improvements brought about by Obamacare do not address the greed that currently drives U.S. health care, including those who run the health industry’s biggest insurance, hospital, pharmaceutical, and supply companies.

Dr. Palavali is also the author of A Mindful Life: A Brain Surgeon’s Personal Experiences and Philosophical Reflections on Living Life Fully.

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The American Humanist Association (www.americanhumanist.org) advocates for the rights and viewpoints of humanists. Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., its work is extended through more than 160 local chapters and affiliates across America. Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism, affirms our responsibility to lead ethical lives of value to self and humanity.

Reason Cinema is a film series project sponsored by the American Humanist Association. Since 2008, the AHA has hosted free screenings of films with humanist or progressive themes open to the public in Washington DC and other cities in the United States. These screenings are followed by informative discussions with directors, producers, and leading philosophers and policy experts on humanist issues. We aim to advance a secular agenda through innovative films that connect humanism and the arts. Reason Cinema has helped promote the award-winning documentary FUEL, PBS’s miniseries Becoming Human, comedian Bill Maher’s Religulous and the major motion picture The Golden Compass.

Healthcare in America is in critical condition, and deteriorating by the day. As filmmaker and brain surgeon Dr. Vivekanand Palavali dissects our country’s medical industry to diagnose the root cause that is destroying the healthcare delivery, he came across the deep-rooted cancer that is responsible for the illness.

As America desperately seeks the right prescription to cure the ailing field of medicine and provide affordable quality healthcare to all, it stands at the cross roads of two profound socioeconomic philosophical choices. The fundamental choice it has to make is the bitter pill. Unless the nation accepts that bitter medicine and chooses the right path, the present course is certain to lead American healthcare to a dead end.

Click here to learn more about the film at BitterPillDoc.com.

Bitter Pill – documentary film trailer from Vivek Palavali on Vimeo.

Since the 1960s the world population has nearly doubled, adding more than 3 billion people.  At the same time, talking about population has become politically incorrect because of the sensitivity of the issues surrounding the topic– religion, economics, family planning and gender inequality. The film illustrates both the over consumption and the inequity side of the population issue by following Beth, a mother, a child-rights activist and the last sibling of a large American family of twelve, as she discovers the thorny complexities of the population dilemma and highlights a different path to solve it.

For more info, visit http://www.motherthefilm.com/

http://www.movierevie.ws/people/81424/American-Humanist-Association.html

• Beneficent Euthanasia (1972)
• Beyond the Sexual Revolution (1972)
• Blowing the Whistle on Pat Robertson (1988)
• Boredom: It’s Epidemic! (1982)
• Censorship in a Free Society (1977)
• The Church, the State, and the First Amendment (1972)
• The Consumer Ethic (1977)
• Defending the Rights of Evangelism’s Victims (1988)
• The Disillusioned Americans (1972)
• Divorce and Alimony: The American Tragedy (1972)
• Does God Exist? (1972)
• Ethics and Human Rights (1977)
• Ethics and the Corporation: Part 1 (1977)
• Ethics and the Corporation: Part 2 (1977)
• Ethics and the Law (1972)
• Ethics in America (1977)
• Ethics in Government (1977)
• The Ethics of Medicine and Psychiatry (1977)
• The Ethics of Scientific Research (1977)
• The Ethics of Teaching (1977)
• Ethics of Wall Street (1977)
• Ethics without Religion (1972)
• Fear of Eroticism and Its Human Implications (1972)
• Free Thought and the Mass Media (1972)
• The Future of the University: Part 1 (1972)
• The Future of the University: Part 2 (1972)
• Growing Old: The Prospect for Happiness (1972)
• Growth, Happiness and Self Realization Series (1977)
• How to Enjoy Your First 100 Years (1972)
• The Human Cougar (1977)
• Humanism and Democracy (1972)
• Humanism and Feminism: New Directions (1972)
• Humanism and its Enemies (1972)
• Humanism and Science (1972)
• Humanism and the Frontiers of Education (1972)
• Humanism in the Churches (1972)
• Humanism: Making Bigger Circles (1986)
• The Humanist Alternative: Moral Values in Contemporary Society (1988)
• Humanistic Ethics (1977)
• Humanizing the Workplace (1972)
• Immortality: A Debate (1972)
• Involuntary Commitment (1972)
• Is the Family Dead? (1972)
• The Kindness of Strangers (1988)
• Man’s Place in the Universe (1977)
• Moral Education for Children (1982)
• Moral Education in Our Schools: Part 1-Values Clarification (1977)
• Moral Education in Our Schools: Part 2-Moral Development (1977)
• Moral Education in Our Schools: Part 3-Moral Development (1977)
• The Moral Revolution (1972)
• New Concepts in Marriage (1972)
• New Cults As a Social Phenomenon (1972)
• The New Sexual Revolution (1972)
• On Black America (1972)
• Our Disintegrating Public Schools (1972)
• Paranormal Phenomena: Reality or Illusion? (1972)
• The Paranormal: Science or Pseudoscience? (1977)
• Quality Science Education Versus Creationism (1988)
• Religion, Politics and Our Schools (1988)
• Religious Liberty (1972)
• Science and the Free Mind (1972)
• Situation Ethics (1972)
• Today in America, Sex IS Politics (1988)
• Violence and the Law (1977)
• The Welfare Dilemma (1977)
• What Is Ethics? (1977)
• What Is Humanism? (1972)
• Women’s Liberation, Sexuality and the Family (1977)

We are always looking for more AHA related material. If you have or know of any other AHA films or videos, we’d like to know! Please contact us here.

Darwin Day is a global celebration of science and reason held on or around Feb. 12, the birthday anniversary of evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin. Learn how you can celebrate at darwinday.org

In a statement, Representative Stark said, “Darwin’s birthday is a good time for us to reflect on the important role of science in our society. It is also a time to redouble our efforts to ensure that children are being taught scientific facts, not religious dogma, and to fight back against those who seek to undermine the science of climate change for political ends.”

This resolution could not have come at a more important time. The New York Times recently reported that only 28 percent of biology teachers present evidence for evolution as recommended by the National Research Council, while 13 percent “explicitly advocate” creationism. Furthermore, with climate change quickly gaining speed, and anti-environment regulation law-makers denying its impact, a true grasp of science is the strongest defense against global warming. You can read the text of the resolution in its entirety here: americanhumanist.org/​Action_Alerts/​Stark_Darwin_Resolution

1986, Running time 45 minutes.

Produced by the American Humanist Association.

Humanism: Making Bigger Circles with Isaac Asimov from American Humanist Association on Vimeo.

In this first ever television history of disbelief, Jonathan Miller goes on a journey exploring the origins of his own lack of belief and uncovering the hidden story of atheism.

Shadows of Doubt

Jonathan Miller visits the absent Twin Towers to consider the religious implications of 9/11 and meets Arthur Miller and the philosopher Colin McGinn. He searches for evidence of the first ‘unbelievers’ in Ancient Greece and examines some of the modern theories around why people have always tended to believe in mythology and magic.

Noughts and Crosses

With the domination of Christianity from 500 AD, Jonathan Miller wonders how disbelief began to re-emerge in the 15th and 16th centuries. He discovers that division within the Church played a more powerful role than the scientific discoveries of the period. He also visits Paris, the home of the 18th century atheist, Baron D’Holbach, and shows how politically dangerous it was to undermine the religious faith of the masses.

The Final Hour

The history of disbelief continues with the ideas of self-taught philosopher Thomas Paine, the revolutionary studies of geology and the evolutionary theories of Darwin. Jonathan Miller looks at the Freudian view that religion is a ‘thought disorder’. He also examines his motivation behind making the series touching on the issues of death and the religious fanaticism of the 21st century.