"And The Band Played On" - What Went Wrong

In "And The Band Played On", scientists search for an explanation for a newfound disease, later to be called AIDS. They face many struggles with prejudice, finding solid evidence and definite proof, and attempting to show the political and bureaucratic systems that a serious disease is at hand so proper funding for research can be provided. The systems that are supposed to help people and prevent diseases from spreading fall apart. In the end, AIDS …

…supply was infecting people around the country with AIDS, the blood banks still refused to use the Hepatitis B test which was 88% effective in detecting the AIDS virus. In the conference between the members of the blood banks, a doctor asked, "Let me ask you this- when doctors start acting like businessmen who can the people turn to for doctors?" This offers a harsh glimpse into the nature of political, bureaucratic, and even medical fields.