In 2019, four cast members with chronic illnesses filed a lawsuit against Netflix and show producers for defamation for portraying them as "lazy, crazy, hypochondriacs and/or malingerers."
From Aug to Sep 2018, a series of articles appeared on Medium entitled "The Truth Behind Netflix's 'Afflicted,'" written by patients and their family members, as well as doctors, scientists, and other activists.
They alleged Netflix omitted scientific diagnosis of patients on the show, created deceptive script and event manipulations, included scientists with no background knowledge of the conditions and no relationship to the patients, excluded the recorded interviews with doctors and scientists familiar with the patients and their conditions, and neglected to show scientific evidence for the conditions.
They alleged Netflix omitted scientific diagnosis of patients on the show, created deceptive script and event manipulations, included scientists with no background knowledge of the conditions and no relationship to the patients, excluded the recorded interviews with doctors and scientists familiar with the patients and their conditions, and neglected to show scientific evidence for the conditions.