The Widowmaker (2015)

Pretty Good

good back-story, and good acting

Excellent but underrated film

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I was one of the first researchers who proposed the use of coronary artery calcification to predict probability of heart attacks (calcium screening) and I played a major part in the development and testing of the technologies used for calcium screening. The producers of this film solicited my participation in their planned documentary and I declined participation.When I was invited to participate, I was told by the interviewing staff member from the Widowmaker production team that the film was largely funded by one donor who was, for personal reasons, totally sold on the value of calcium screening as a way to detect those persons susceptible to heart attacks. It was obvious that this "documentary" film would not be an accurate portrayal of the history of the development of this technology nor would it represent anything like objective journalism regarding the test's actual value.After viewing the film, I know I made the correct decision to not participate. The film portrays a non-existent intellectual and economic battle between those who propose prevention of heart disease and those who propose intervention for those already suffering from heart disease. It appears almost as if these two "sides" are fighting each other; it seems from the film that one side wants to prevent heart attacks and deprive the other from the business in treating them and the intervention side is against prevention in order to get more business. This is a convenient, though inaccurate and unfair way to explain why many, including myself, who saw real value in calcium screening did not and still do not recommend its universal use for all those who might be worried about their risk of a heart attack. Calcium screening is accepted by the medical community as a way to determine risk and to focus preventive interventions (like cholesterol lowering) on those at high risk for heart attacks. It is not accepted as a way to detect latent heart disease in everybody. This approach of screening to determine risk is based on scientific evidence. Those doctors who specialize in treating heart attacks and heart disease with interventions are not at all opposed to coronary calcium screening when used in this scientifically proved way.Robert Detrano MD PhD

I've had this movie on my watchlist for a while and just now got around to watching it, and boy am I glad that I did.This was really a fascinating and rich documentary. It is about medical industry technologies in relation to heart attacks and the developments that have been made the past 20 years, specifically a few types of technologies.Helpful technologies are suppressed, due to a mixture of ignorance, greed, and blind faith in old knowledge among those wielding the power of change in the medical community.Luckily over the years these new forms of heart attack prevention and treatments have been widely accepted and adopted, due to various occurrences which are described in the movie.At times the movie will present you with real 911 calls, to solidify the chilling reality of these sudden and deadly heart attacks that can change your life forever, or even worse, take it away.One peeve that I had with the movie was that it didn't go into details on what kind of nutrition would be helpful in preventing heart attacks. The food you consume and choose to fuel your body with definitely plays a large role in the occurrences, so it was a shame to not hear anything about it. I understand of course that the movie would like to focus on the story of these medical technologies, but still, they could have dedicated a few minutes to nutrition in my opinion. I saw another review here stating that the movie was highly opposed to sterns, but I did not get that impression at all. Rather I think it was being critical of the fact that a small amount of people were making incredibly large sums of money due to the invention and the operation of inserting them. The review I am referring to is actually incredibly suspect and strangely negative, which makes me think of one of the ignorant and misled persons interviewed in the movie. The author of that review actually created his/her account exactly 11 months ago when the review was written, and has not made any reviews since then... Not very surprising.

Very eye opening and not to be missed! Gives you a good idea of what tests to ask for and who to see. The one thing I found weird was they showed all these really rich cardiologists who had extremely bad teeth. I have read where your teeth can have a big impact on heart health. I have had the scan already and will again. I recommend it everyone. Do not stick your head in the sand and become frightened at getting info that could save your life. I hope this message reaches a lot of people who need it. You can really see where decisions about our lives are made by doctors who are really asses and act like it's amusing! They say a stent is no more better than diet and exercise....when someone is laying on the table and gets a stent that opens his artery immediately. Like every thing else in life, money seems to be the big motivation in treatments getting the go ahead or not. Money and hubris . One or two people can influence a whole country as far as what tests will be paid for by insurance.

"The WidowMaker" is a Must-See Documentary for every adult. You need to understand the politics and greed involved in the Cardiology and Heart Care Industry that consists of Cardiologists, Invasive Cardiologists, Heart Surgeons, Hospitals, Stent Makers and BIG PHARMA. Heart Disease fuels a MAJOR aspect of our health care system. An extremely accurate 20-second non-invasive test done by a low-dose CT machine known as the CAC Score is threatening the profits of the hospitals and cardiologists......as it costs very little and can find that up to 50% of heart procedures ($$$) are not actually needed at all. Yet, heart disease kills nearly 35% of all of us and we want to trust our "doctors" who have "nothing-but-the-best-in-mind-for-us" lol. But lining thir pockets with gold appears to be the motivation.Heart Disease is a big-money industry and the power players are polarized toward keeping the status-quo and the billions of profits. The proponents of the CAC Score feel that the existing cardiology mafia-esque power-cadre should change to save peoples lives because it's the right thing to do.......herein lies the crux....they don't want to give up the money. There are Non-invasive options and alternatives today instead of surgery. Watch "The WidowMaker" on NETFLIX TODAY!!!