Watertown, NY – The Emmy-nominated, national health care series, Second Opinion, kicks off a whole new season of intriguing medical cases with an hour-long special that sheds light on opioid and heroin addiction. Overdose: Inside the Epidemic premieres Friday, November 3rd at 2pm. Season 14 tackles a variety of medical issues including Crohn’s disease, transgender health, eating disorders, type 1 diabetes, and OCD. Monday, November 6th WPBS will be presenting a two-hour block featuring Reversing the Stigma at 9pm followed by Overdose: Inside the Epidemic at 10pm.
Produced by WXXI, in partnership with the University of Rochester Medical Center and West 175 Productions, Second Opinion focuses on health literacy in an engaging, entertaining, and accessible way. A patient story provides the backbone of each episode as host Dr. Peter Salgo leads a panel of medical experts through the twists and turns of one patient’s real-life medical mystery. New this season, Second Opinion introduces each patient in their own home environment to provide a personal look at the circumstances surrounding their medical condition. To help deepen the very human, personal storytelling, the patient later meets a panel of experts in the studio, before a live studio audience, to continue the discussion.
Also new this season are special field segments, “Medical Innovations,” that feature doctors and researchers who are doing cutting-edge work in areas of diagnostics, treatment, and surgery. To close each episode, the patient shares their advice from home, a personal message to help people dealing with the disease or condition.
The series, now in its 14th season, hosts a comprehensive web site, SecondOpinion-tv.org, where visitors can watch full episodes of the series and access medical information through searchable video, resources, and transcripts. Viewers can follow Second Opinion on Twitter at: @SecondOpinionTV and on Facebook at: facebook.com/secondopiniontv.
Second Opinion, a national multimedia health initiative that reaches an engaged audience through television, web, social media, and community and national outreach, is an Emmy Award-nominated public television series. Launched in 2004, the goal of the national health care series is to promote good health, improve doctor/patient communication and empower viewers to take charge of their own healthcare, and in turn, help them navigate the medical system for better health outcomes. Second Opinion’s executive producers are Elissa Orlando, Elizabeth Brock, and Fiona Willis. The series is distributed by American Public Television and is made possible with support from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA).
About the producers
WXXI Public Broadcasting Council is an award-winning broadcast family of services dedicated to meeting the lifelong educational needs of its viewers. WXXI operates three digital TV channels, and an array of radio services which include an NPR station, a full-time classical music station, and a radio reading service for the visually impaired. WXXI’s national productions include documentaries that explore arts, culture and history such as Restoring a Masterpiece: The Renovation of the Eastman Theatre, and Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival. WXXI launched the national health series Second Opinion in 2004.
The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) is one of the nation’s top academic health centers, and it forms the centerpiece of the University of Rochester’s health research, teaching, patient care, and community outreach missions. Within upstate New York’s premier healthcare delivery network, URMC patients benefit from the Medical Center’s robust teaching and biomedical research programs. With more than $250 million in annual external research funding, UR School of Medicine ranks in the top one-quarter of U.S. medical centers in federal research funding. Strong Memorial Hospital – a 750-bed, University-owned teaching hospital is designated as a Regional Trauma and Burn Center and is home to Western New York’s only heart transplant program. It has won the National Research Corporation’s Consumer Choice for the last 15 years. URMC has been involved in Second Opinion since its inception.
West 175 Productions is an award-winning independent production company specializing in all aspects of informational and educational programming for both broadcast and non-broadcast distribution. Formerly a division of West Media Inc., the company was launched in 1990 with the production of Kerr’s Kitchen, hosted by Galloping Gourmet Graham Kerr. Since then, the company has produced more than 600 episodes of original programming for both public television and cable distribution. Experienced in managing multi-part series productions, West 175 works include Great Food, Cucina Amore, MasterChef USA, and World of Wildlife. West 175 was part of the initial development team for Second Opinion and has been involved in its production from the series’ inception.
THE DISTRIBUTOR
American Public Television (APT) has been the leading syndicator of high-quality, top-rated programming to the nation’s public television stations since 1961. For more than 10 years, APT has annually distributed one-third or more of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles in the U.S. Among its 250 new program titles per year, APT programs include prominent documentaries, news and current affairs programs, dramas, how-to programs, children’s series and classic movies. AfroPoP, America’s Test Kitchen From Cook’s Illustrated, Rick Steves’ Europe, Front and Center, Doc Martin, Nightly Business Report, Midsomer Murders, Vera, NHK Newsline, Lidia’s Kitchen, Globe Trekker, Simply Ming, and P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home join numerous documentaries and performance programs popular with public television viewers. APT licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service. Now in its 11th year, Create® TV — featuring the best of public television’s lifestyle programming — is distributed by American Public Television. APT also distributes WORLD™, public television’s premier news, science and documentary channel. To find out more about APT’s programs and services, visit APTonline.org.
About WPBS-TV
WPBS-TV is a non-profit public television station serving approximately 650,000 households throughout Northern New York and Eastern Ontario. WPBS-TV’s mission is to educate, entertain and inform our two-nation audience through superior local and national content and media engagement in order to enhance the lives of those it serves. More information about WPBS is available at www.wpbstv.org, or by following WPBS on Twitter and Facebook.
