Sicko

Sicko is a documentary film by Michael Moore critical of the US health care system.

Industry counteroffensive
As the film was nearing its June 29, 2007, release date, "the pharmaceutical industry and think tanks it backs financially" began "readying a multifaceted counteroffensive" to Sicko. "It definitely has to be rebutted," Sally Pipes of the Pacific Research Institute told the NY Sun. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America's Ken Johnson released a statement calling the film a "biased, one-sided attack."

Citing SourceWatch, the NY Sun noted that "several organizations staging responses to 'Sicko' receive funding from pharmaceutical companies, including the Manhattan Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the Pacific Research Institute. ... [T]he advocacy group Health Care America, whose Web site says it is funded in part by pharmaceutical manufacturers, staged a conference call that drew nearly 20 reporters from around the country. 'The purpose of the call was to discuss what Michael Moore left out of his movie,' the group's executive director, Sarah Berk, said."

The conservative lobby group FreedomWorks also announced plans to counter the film's message. "FreedomWorks' nationwide grassroots army of nearly 850,000 activists and supporters will assist in the campaign of truth by handing out information at movie theaters that exposes Moore's hypocrisy, points out the problems associated with government-run health care, and promotes the FreedomWorks solution of removing existing government barriers that prevent Americans from being able to use the free market to choose the care that suits their individual needs," read a press release from the group.

SourceWatch resources

 * Fahrenheit 9/11
 * FreedomWorks
 * Health Care America
 * Michael Moore