Based on Dr. Lisa Sanders‘ column in the New York Times, Netflix made a docuseries about mystery diseases without a diagnosis. With the help of a global network of readers, she hopes to give a handful of patients with illnesses a satisfying diagnosis, so they can start treatment or try to live with their sickness. One case after the other she will release an article, which states the patients medical history provided with a filmed statement of the patient himself. An experiment based around a crowdsourcing system that has never been done before.
The internet is a crazy place. We’ve all googled certain symptoms to figure out what exactly is going on with our bodies, before seeing a professional doctor. If you believe “Doctor Google“, I’m pretty sure we’d all have cancer. Dr. Lisa Sanders also served as a medical consultant on tv-show House M.D. With the help of the newspaper, she hopes to reach people with similar symptoms or clues to what these patients might be going through. She’s not just asking the medial community for help, but the entire world, people like you and me.
Over the course of seven episodes, we get to meet patients of all ages and races. Some of these cases are tough to watch, when we witness the emotional stress families and friends are going through in support of their loved ones. Sanders is here to help these families and purely as a jumping board to share these stories. Sometimes it also points out what exactly is wrong with the American medical system, which makes the series definitely worth watching.
Most people forget that there are still medical mysteries, even in the 21st century. That’s why we need to reach out to more sources. Where this information comes from isn’t always that important, it’s about trying out what someone else might’ve completely overlooked. Diagnosis can be as feel-good as Queer Eye, although the series takes a more serious look at life and digs just that little bit deeper under your skin.
Diagnosis is available for streaming on Netflix from Friday, August 16.
Review by Seth Eelen
