My Sister's Keeper (2009)

A former defense attorney (Cameron Diaz) finds herself back in the courtroom when she and her husband (Jason Patric) are sued for medical emancipation by their 11-year-old daughter, Anna (Abigail Breslin), who is expected to donate a kidney to her dying older sister. The subsequent trial tests ethical boundaries and the limits of parental love. Joan Cusack and Alec Baldwin round out the cast in this powerful drama based on Jodi Picoult's novel. 2009, 1 hr and 50 minutes (from Netflix)

New York Times Review

I found this movie satisfying and thought provoking.  It stuck fairly close to the book, although, as in most cases, the book, by Jodi Picoult, was a more satisfying treatment of this subject. DJE

Never Let Me Go (2010)

One reviewer for NetFlix wrote: "This is a brilliant film, disturbing and evocative. A great story, brilliantly translated for screen, and delivered with quiet and painstaking control. This film will stay with you for some time after." It addresses topics such as organ transplantation and medical ethics and is sadly beautiful, poignant and memorable. Not to be missed. Trailer.

The movie is closely based on the darkly moving book of the same title and was co-produced by the author, Kazuo Ishiguru

Coma

From Amazon.com
Something is awry at Boston General Hospital. Dr. Wheeler's (Genevieve Bujold) friend Nancy goes in for a routine procedure, but never comes out of the anesthesia and slips into a coma. Wheeler learns that a tissue sample from the young woman went to the lab, then soon finds out that a high number of patients have become comatose recently. She digs a little deeper and finds a conspiracy mired in hospital politics, running afoul of the head of anesthesia, Dr. George (Rip Torn) and the head of surgery, Dr. Harris (Richard Widmark). Nobody believes the young MD, not even her boyfriend Dr. Bellows (Douglas), but she soon uncovers a black-market trade in body parts, conducted offsite at the Jefferson Institute, a state-of-the-art coma-care facility. Director Michael Crichton is an MD himself, and the film has a seamless, almost mechanical structure and plotline (taken from the Robin Cook novel). Jerry Renshaw 1978 113 minutes Available in VHS and DVD

John Q

From Netflix: "In director Nick Cassavetes's gripping social drama, blue-collar worker John Q. (Denzel Washington) finds that his meager insurance won't cover his son's emergency heart transplant. Desperate, he holds a hospital's emergency room hostage until doctors agree to perform the surgery. Meanwhile, gung ho police chief Gus Monroe (Ray Liotta) and hostage negotiator Frank Grimes (Robert Duvall) try to diffuse the situation amid a media frenzy.

This film addresses health care costs and the inequity of coverage that many people face in the U.S. It shows how crazy and frustrating the system is and how people get left out in the cold.

Trailer Netflix

A Choice for K'aila

May Parents Refuse a Transplant for Their Child? [video recording]

SUMMARY: A portrayal of parents faced with a life and death decision about their baby, and a doctor trying to protect the baby's life. Leslie and Francois Paulette were told that their eight-month- old would need a liver transplant to survive. They were deeply disturbed by the possiblity of the baby's enduring painful treatment only to face a life of uncertain prospects. In addition, they held the Native American belief that in this life, the physical and spiritual being is interconnected. Foreign organs from another person should not be transplanted. Their doctor, though sympathetic, was deeply disturbed at the prospect of witholding treatment. He brought the case to the attention of Social Services, who apprehended the family. The case went to court in Alberta, and the family was permitted to take K'aila home to die.

A CBC Television production.
CALL # RD546 .C52 1992.
PUBLISHER: New York, NY : Filmakers Library, c1992.
DESCRIPTION: 1 videocassette (28 min.) : with b&w ; 1/2 in.

22 Grams

The complex interconnected story of how the lives of a former drug addict and single mother, Christine (Naomi Watts), a terminally ill mathematics professor, Paul (Sean Penn), and a spiritual ex-convict, Jack (Benicio Del Toro), intersect after a car accident. Clea DuVall co-stars in this gritty drama that's ultimately about hope and redemption.

Dirty, Pretty Things

Okwe, an illegal immigrant working as a night porter at a posh London hotel, stumbles across evidence of a bizarre murder. He and Senay, a Turkish chambermaid -- and fellow undocumented worker -- venture into the city's seedy underworld to find out what happened. Stephen Frears directs this gritty urban thriller. The theme is illegal organ transplantation. The film is dark and compelling. It addresses medical tourism and transplantation.

In a bizarre twist, there was a similar case in India this past year. See "TheStar."

This film is a "must-see."