Eye-Opening New Documentary Warns of “The End of Medicine”

EAT

Jul 14

Executive produced by Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara, the new feature-length film explores the link between our treatment of animals and the dangers of antibiotics and future pandemics.

“The science is irrefutable” say Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara, as they describe an eye-opening new documentary that explores the science behind how our treatment of animals is leading to deadly disease outbreaks and the end of medicine as we know it.

The pair are the executive producers behind “The End of Medicine”, a feature-length film from the BAFTA award-winning Director Alex Lockwood.

Featuring interviews with industry whistleblowers, medical experts, government advisors and leading scientists, the film is an alarming look at how the current global food system is fueling a global health crisis.

Among the testimonies featured is whistleblower Dr. Alice Brough, a former pig veterinarian who quit the animal agriculture industry and now warns of its many dangers to animal welfare and public health.

"I [worked on livestock farms] for four years and I was just seeing the same issues across the board," Dr. Brough said in an interview with Green Matters. "I was using all these antibiotics in sort of inappropriate ways and seeing all this disease and along with all the animal suffering."

This dangerous widespread practise is contributing to a major health threat: antimicrobial resistance. When farmed animals are kept alive through antibiotics, the public then consume those antibiotics too and begin to increase a herd immunity to their positive effects.

"The risk factors are all there and there's no prevention in place” explained Dr. Brough. “You know, we're in a situation where every time, you have to use antibiotics to keep these animals alive to slaughter."

The United Nations (UN) are among those who have repeatedly warned that antibiotic-resistant bacteria is increasing: at least 700,000 people die every year from drug-resistant diseases, and the UN says that number could increase to 10 million deaths annually by 2050 if no action is taken.

Increased antibiotic resistance could therefore result in the end of medicine.

Farming Animals and the Next Pandemic

The film also addresses the role of farming animals and the rise in deadly disease outbreaks.

It's predicted that animal diseases, particularly from tightly-packed factory farms, could be a source of the next human-health pandemic. Up to three-quarters of emerging infectious diseases, including COVID-19, are zoonotic, meaning they jump from animals to humans.

This pressing issue is explained in The End of Medicine, particularly in a revelatory interview with Dr. Aysha Akhtar, CEO of the Center for Contemporary Sciences.

“We're crowding [animals] into as tight of a space as we can and that goes against everything we know about how to contain and prevent the emergence of infectious diseases," Dr. Akhtar warns.

Ultimately, the film hopes to readdress the lack of awareness on how eating animals is helping to drive major health threats before it is too late.

"We have been frustrated with the failure of mainstream media to properly address the threat of disease coming from animal agriculture, both before and during the current pandemic," said the film’s Director Alex Lockwood and Producer Keegan Kuhn. "The End of Medicine is an alarm bell and warning of what is to come if we don't change."

You can watch The End of Medicine now via a variety of streaming services including Prime Video, iTunes, and AppleTV.

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