Zoe Simmons unpacks how Netflix's show 'Apple Cider Vinegar' conveys doctors as all-powerful beings who can do no wrong, while demonising chronically ill people who resort to alternative treatments after encountering stigma and ableism within the medical healthcare system, and delves into her own experiences of navigating the healthcare system as a disabled and chronically ill woman.
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You end up spending a lot of time with doctors and medical professionals when you’re chronically ill or disabled. Unfortunately, it isn’t always a good experience. It can be really challenging to find a doctor who listens to you when your conditions or disabilities are invisible or dynamic. Finding one to help you is even harder.
That’s a reality we don’t talk about enough—particularly when women and people assigned female at birth are much more likely to experience invisible disabilities and illnesses, like Endometriosis, Adenomyosis, Fibromyalgia, Long COVID, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and more.
It took years of begging for me to be helped; my symptoms were left untreated and my conditions undiagnosed. Even now with decent doctors in my corner, I still struggle to get the help I need. They refuse when I ask for symptoms to be investigated, or ask for specific tests, because they don’t think I need it. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what I think about my body—it matters what they think, because they have the power.
That’s why I’m so frustrated by the way doctors are represented in Netflix’s new show Apple Cider Vinegar. It follows the story of Belle Gibson, an Australian influencer who faked her cancer diagnosis and claimed she cured herself through a healthy diet and positive mindset.
In the show, doctors are portrayed as these all-knowing, all-powerful, almost god-like beings. Unfortunately, this black-and-white view of medical professionals stems from broader society, where doctors are viewed as superior due to their power over life and death decisions. They can do no wrong and know better than everyone else.
We see this with one of the show’s main characters, Milla Blake, who is advised by doctors to amputate her arm after being diagnosed with a rare sarcoma. Milla finds this confronting, and asks for another opinion, suggesting alternative therapies. The doctors largely ignore her, and worse, infantalise her.
‘It is very important you listen to what I say to you, young lady,’ one older male doctor tells her. ‘Do you want to die?’
Everyone should have the right to ask questions, seek a second opinion and enquire about different ways of managing their health. People come to doctors for help, not to be yelled at and insulted when they’re in one of the most vulnerable and confusing times of their lives—especially for those battling a life-threatening condition.
The doctors won’t listen to Milla when she calmly presents case studies with alternative suggestions. They won’t even look at her, it’s like she isn’t even there. She literally has to yell at them, ‘Look at me when you’re talking about me!’
No wonder Milla eventually goes down the path of alternative treatments. She follows the advice of numerous health gurus, who insist they can cure her cancer with green juices and yoga, and she documents her journey on social media. Unfortunately, Milla passes away after her cancer spreads. In this situation, Milla probably should have listened to the doctors and gotten the treatment they suggested. But when she was treated so poorly by doctors who refused to listen, can you blame her?
So many people resort to alternative treatments outside the medical healthcare system, because there is so much stigma and ableism from healthcare professionals. Ask anyone who’s chronically ill, and you’ll probably hear some horrific stories about our experiences.
Navigating the medical system when you’re chronically ill is incredibly hard and many people lose faith in conventional medicine. Being forced to go from doctor to doctor and spend money you can’t afford to seek help, only to receive none, are just some of the experiences that push people to look for help elsewhere. Sometimes, alternative treatments can help. But, as we see in the show, sometimes they cause great harm.
Doctors need to listen to their patients. We’re not bad patients for asking questions, for doing our own research, for suggesting therapies and treatments, and for taking charge of our health. We all deserve to be heard, supported, and treated with kindness. Doctors don’t always have the answer. Their advice can be just as harmful as claiming to cure cancer with green juice and yoga.
Wouldn’t it be great if doctors and patients could just work together?
Maybe one day.
Zoe Simmons is an award-winning disabled journalist, copywriter, speaker, author and fierce advocate. She writes and speaks candidly about her experiences as an autistic, chronically ill, queer disabled person living with complex mental illness to smash stigma and create change. You can find out more about Zoe on her website, or follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or TikTok.