Unnatural Causes is a seven-part documentary that crisscrosses the nation exploring how the social conditions in which Americans are born, live and work profoundly affect health and longevity, even more than medical care, behaviors and genes.  Research suggests that racial discrimination imposes an additional health burden; for many diseases, African Americans, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders - at all income levels - fare worse on average than their white counterparts. This series challenges fundamental beliefs about what makes Americans healthy - or sick - and offers new remedies for an ailing society. 

Seven production teams weave together the human dimension with the scientific data by capturing stories on the ground:

EPISODE 1 – IN SICKNESS AND IN WEALTH (56 mins)

EPISODE 2 – WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS (29 mins)

EPISODE 3 - BECOMING AMERICAN (29 mins)

EPISODE 4 – BAD SUGAR (29 mins)

EPISODE 5 - PLACE MATTERS (29 mins)

EPISODE 6 - COLLATERAL DAMAGE (29 mins)

EPISODE 7 – NOT JUST A PAYCHECK (30 mins)

COLLATERAL DAMAGE Synopsis: In the Marshall Islands, local populations – displaced from their traditional way of life by the American military presence in the Pacific – must contend with the worst of both the “developing” and industrialized worlds: infectious diseases such as tuberculosis running rampant due to poor sanitation, crowded living conditions and extreme poverty and high rates of chronic disease stemming in part from the stress of dislocation and loss.

Available through March 2012 through PBS NPS.