Health & Veritas

Howie and Harlan are joined by Dawn Harris Sherling, an internist at Florida Atlantic University and the author of Eat Everything: How to Ditch Additives and Emulsifiers, Heal Your Body, and Reclaim the Joy of Food. Harlan provides an update on the dangers of the artificial sweetener aspartame; Howie reflects on the lessons from an outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to a plastic surgery clinic in Mexico.  Links: “The WHO is about to declare aspartame can cause cancer. Here’s why you should listen.” “Donald Rumsfeld and the Strange History of Aspartame” Dawn Harris Sherling: Eat Everything How to Ditch Additives and Emulsifiers, Heal Your Body, and Reclaim the Joy of Food Harvard School of Public Health: The Microbiome “5 Food Additives You Should Avoid” “The UN Decade of Nutrition, the NOVA food classification and the trouble with ultra-processing” CDC: All about your A1C “A Shadowy Industry Group Shapes Food Policy Around the World” CDC: Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Associated with Procedures Performed under Epidural Anesthesia in Matamoros, Mexico “Joan Rivers Died From Complication in Treatment, Officials Say” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Hil Moss, a graduate of Yale SOM and the Yale School of Public Health, to discuss her experience being diagnosed with breast cancer while a Yale student, the challenges facing cancer survivors after treatment, and the virtual clinic that she founded to help fill the void. Harlan reports on highly effective new obesity treatments on the horizon; Howie discusses the far-reaching effects of the Dobbs ruling, one year later.  Links: “Retatrutide, a GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon receptor agonist, for people with type 2 diabetes: a randomised, double-blind, placebo and active-controlled, parallel-group, phase 2 trial conducted in the USA” American Diabetes Association: “American Diabetes Association Highlights Novel Agent Retatrutide which Results in Substantial Weight Reduction in People with Obesity or Type 2 Diabetes During Late Breaking Symposium” “Experimental Lilly pill, Mounjaro both lead to 15% weight loss in clinical trials” Hil Moss: About VivorCare: The First Virtual Cancer Survivorship Clinic Hil Moss: “Enough pink: We’re doing Breast Cancer Awareness Month all wrong” “Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022)” “A National Survey of OBGYNs’ Experiences After Dobbs” “Indiana board reprimands Dr. Caitlin Bernard over 10-year-old's abortion case” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Sejal Hathi, a physician, podcaster, and social entrepreneur who recently left a White House role to become New Jersey’s health officer. Harlan asks if ChatGPT’s imagination is a bug or a feature; Howie discusses the toll of motorcycle accidents and makes the case for helmet laws.  Links: “Exclusive: 42% of CEOs say AI could destroy humanity in five to ten years” “Artificial Hallucinations in ChatGPT: Implications in Scientific Writing” “Ikigai: A Japanese concept to improve work and life” Sejal Hathi at TEDWomen: Girls Helping Girls Nurture NJ: Combating New Jersey’s Maternal and Infant Mortality Crisis About Civic RX “Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Laws in the United States: Origins, Context, and Controversies” “Motorcycle Accident Statistics & Numbers For 2023” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by David Fiellin, a Yale internist and an expert in addiction medicine. Harlan reports on a new study showing a surprising benefit from a daily multivitamin; Howie explains how a 1994 law is fueling hype around an untested herbal supplement for weight loss.  Links: “Multivitamin Supplementation Improves Memory in Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial” Earlham College: Mission, Principles, and Values “What Ozempic Reveals About Desire” Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: Buprenorphine National Institute on Drug Abuse: Naloxone DrugFacts CDC: Understanding the Opioid Overdose Epidemic “The Truth About ‘Nature’s Ozempic’” Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Abbe Gluck of Yale Law School to discuss how law shapes the health of Americans. Harlan explains how flaws in data privacy affect patients; Howie gives an update on the millions losing their Medicaid coverage, often despite qualifying for the program. Links: Harlan Krumholz: “In the US, patient data privacy is an illusion” “Medical Legal Partnerships” “A prospective cohort study examining exposure to incarceration and cardiovascular disease (Justice-Involved Individuals Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology – JUSTICE study): a protocol paper” Abbe Gluck: COVID-19 and the Law: Disruption, Impact and Legacy “Explaining Litigation Challenging the ACA’s Preventive Services Requirements: Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra” “Abortion pill case: where does the lawsuit against the pill currently stand” “Chevron case: Supreme Court could take sledgehammer to agency power” “SAFFORD UNIFIED SCHOOL DIST. #1 v. REDDING (No. 08-479)” “What Do the Early Medicaid Unwinding Data Tell Us?” “As Medicaid Purge Begins, ‘Staggering Numbers’ of Americans Lose Coverage” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Sandeep Jauhar, a cardiologist and the author, most recently, of the memoir My Father’s Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s. Harlan reports on new research about the timing of blood thinners for stroke patients with atrial fibrillation; Howie checks in on two physician groups that were acquired by private equity investors earlier this year and are now facing bankruptcy.  Links: “Early versus Later Anticoagulation for Stroke with Atrial Fibrillation” Sandeep Jauhar: Heart: a History  Sandeep Jauhar: “How Would You Feel About a 100-Year-Old Doctor?” Sandeep Jauhar: My Father’s Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s “The Dutch Village Where Everyone Has Dementia” National Institute on Aging: What Causes Alzheimer's Disease?  “KKR-Backed GenesisCare Preps for Bankruptcy Filing Within Days” “KKR-Backed Envision Healthcare Plans Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan welcome Yale’s Albert Ko back to the podcast to discuss the state of the COVID-19 pandemic and his career as an infectious disease specialist and public health researcher. Harlan reports on a breakthrough in pacemaker technology; Howie reflects on the complex relationship between obesity, social media, and mental health for young people.  Links: “A Dual-Chamber Leadless Pacemaker” Health & Veritas, Ep. 14: Albert Ko: A Wider View of COVID-19 “What’s Going On With Covid Right Now?” Weill Cornell Medical School: Warren Johnson Berkeley Public Health: Lee Riley WHO: Social Determinants of Health “The role of dieting, happiness with appearance, self-esteem, and bullying in the relationship between mental health and body-mass index among UK adolescents: a longitudinal analysis of the Millennium Cohort Study” “Surgeon General Issues New Advisory About Effects Social Media Use Has on Youth Mental Health” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Joseph Sakran, whose career as a trauma surgeon and advocate grew out of his own experience with gun violence. Harlan discusses his new study enumerating the vast scale of excess deaths among Black Americans; Howie reports on improvements in the insurance rate, nearly a decade after the Affordable Care Act went into effect.  Links: Harlan Krumholz: “Excess Mortality and Years of Potential Life Lost Among the Black Population in the US, 1999-2020” “Shot in the neck at 17, this is the trauma surgeon now leading doctors against gun violence and the NRA” Written Testimony of Joseph Sakran—U.S. House Judiciary Committee, February 6, 2019 “Doctors See the Wreckage of Gun Violence Every Day. We've Had Enough” “In 2019, Congress Pledged Millions to Study Gun Violence. The Results Are Nearly Here.” “U.S. gun deaths disproportionately high” “The State of U.S. Health Insurance in 2022” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Josh Geballe, a Yale SOM graduate who serves as managing director of Yale Ventures, Yale’s initiative overseeing the translation of research into impactful new companies. Harlan reports from the debate on AI in medicine; Howie reflects on the FDA’s approval process for an over-the-counter birth control pill.  Links: “Iwasaki to Receive Else Kröner Fresenius Prize Supporting Research Into Long COVID and Similar Conditions” “As Covid Emergency Ends, U.S. Response Shifts to Peacetime Mode” “ChatGPT - Reshaping medical education and clinical management” “Performance of ChatGPT on USMLE: Potential for AI-assisted medical education using large language models” “Artificial Hallucinations in ChatGPT: Implications in Scientific Writing” Yale Ventures Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale “The economic transformation: What would change in the net-zero transition” “Joint Meeting of the Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and the Obstetrics, Reproductive, and Urologic Drugs Advisory Committee May 9, 2023 – May 10, 2023” FDA | May 9-10, 2023: Joint Meeting of the Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and the Obstetrics, Reproductive and Urologic Drugs Advisory Committee Meeting Announcement “F.D.A. Advisers Weigh Allowing First U.S. Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill” Food and Drug Administration | Prescription-to-Nonprescription (Rx-to-OTC) Switches “Over-the-counter sales of statins and other drugs for asymptomatic conditions” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Amanda Skinner, a Yale SOM graduate who leads Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. Harlan reflects on the potential and the dangers of artificial intelligence; Howie reports on an advisory from Surgeon General Vivek Murthy about the public health impact of loneliness and social isolation.  Links: “Five Alumni Named 2021-22 Donaldson Fellows” “Idaho hospital to stop delivering babies as doctors flee over abortion ban” “Abortion providers in the United States: expanding beyond obstetrics and gynecology” “‘The Godfather of A.I.’ Leaves Google and Warns of Danger Ahead” “Is artificial intelligence advancing too quickly? What AI leaders at Google say” “ChatGPT may have better bedside manner than some doctors, but it lacks some expertise” “Surgeon General: We Have Become a Lonely Nation. It’s Time to Fix That.” “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation” “Good genes are nice, but joy is better” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.