''Hopkins'' is a seven-part documentary TV series set at the

Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 mo ...

, a

teaching hospital A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

(US). It premiered in the United States on June 26, 2008, on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

and is currently airing in syndication on the We TV Network. The theme for the show "So Much to Say" was written by songwriter Matthew Puckett. The series won a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

in 2009. Created as a real-life adjunct to the ABC

medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the chara ...

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...

'', it follows the professional lives of hospital caregivers and their patients. The show is a follow-up to the ABC documentary series ''Hopkins 24/7'', from 2000. ''

Boston Med ''Boston Med'' is an eight-part documentary television series that premiered on ABC in the United States on June 24, 2010. It follows the stories of doctors, nurses, patients and their families at Mass General, Brigham and Women's and Children's. ...

'', which aired on ABC in June–August 2010, was produced by the same team behind ''Hopkins''.

Controversy

The fourth episode of the series featured a young boy with a serious, irreversible heart condition. His heart was barely functioning at a level high enough to keep him alive, and he went into cardiac arrest during a heart biopsy. During a discussion among the boy's doctors about the course of treatment, Dr. James Fackler, a pediatric critical care specialist, was shown saying, "It's my opinion that we should just let the child die." This comment incited controversy among viewers, who considered it insensitive. In a video on ABC's ''Hopkins'' website, Dr. Fackler elaborated on what he meant, explaining that if the boy required a heart transplant, mechanical life support (

ECMO Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), also known as extracorporeal life support (ECLS), is an extracorporeal technique of providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate ...

) would not keep him alive long enough for a new heart to become available. The series failed to show the importance of hospital positions other than the main physician. Nurses felt their jobs were undermined because of how doctors were portrayed as lone heroes. Nurses, social workers and clergy were some of the many people who contributed to the doctor's success.

Footnotes

External links

''Hopkins''
at Johns Hopkins Hospital
Official Website - hopkins.abcnews.com

* {{IMDb title, 1252438, Hopkins American Broadcasting Company original programming 2000s American television miniseries Johns Hopkins Hospital 2000s American documentary television series 2000s American medical television series 2008 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings Television shows set in Baltimore Television shows filmed in Maryland