MTT #100: From COVID-19 to ChatGPT, a close look at the last 5 years   

When this podcast launched in March 2020 as Coronavirus: The Truth, hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr set out to give listeners clear science and accurate analysis during a moment of chaos. Now, 100 episodes later, as Medicine: The Truth, the duo sit down and revisit the most important medical stories of the past five years, explaining what the nation learned, what it didn’t and what urgent questions remain.

The episode opens where the show began: the early days of COVID-19, when exponential spread of the virus threatened to overwhelm U.S. hospitals. Pearl walks through the original goals of public-health measures like masking and social distancing. He reflects on what the country got right, what it got wrong, and why communication failures around testing and vaccines deepened distrust that still affects medicine today.

But as the crisis evolved, so did the podcast. What began as a weekly pandemic explainer shifted into a broader analysis of why the United States spends more on healthcare than any other wealthy nation, yet it delivers worse outcomes.

In this episode, the conversation moves from reflections on the pandemic to a look at some of the show’s longest-running themes: clinician burnout, workforce shortages and a healthcare system struggling to meet rising demand.

Alongside the difficult news that lingers in American healthcare, episode 100 also highlights genuine progress: breakthroughs against Alzheimer’s and colon cancer, advances in prevention and diagnosis, and a growing role for generative AI.

Pearl explains how GenAI could save hundreds of thousands of lives, reduce medical errors, increase healthcare affordability and alleviate clinician burnout. But, none of this will happen unless the financial incentives shift away from fee-for-service and toward value.

Pearl closes with a simple message: crises will return, and science can save lives. However, success will require Americans to follow the research rather than be distracted by politics. To prepare for the next pandemic, he argues that the nation must better control chronic disease, rely on scientifically validated clinical evidence, and reward superior clinical outcomes, rather than simply the volume of care provided.

The first 100 episodes of what is now Medicine: The Truth serve as clear and powerful reminders of the dedication and courage of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. But they also warn of how easy it can be for the American healthcare system to lose its way.

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of the new book “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine” about the impact of AI on the future of medicine. All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn

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