Fixing Healthcare Podcast

Co-host Dr. Pearl spoke with several critical care physicians in a recent Forbes article. One of those doctors described waking up regularly before sunrise, covered in sweat. Another seasoned physician said he had four patients die in a single day from Covid-19—more patients than he’d ever lost in a month. A resident explained that he started his ICU rotation with six Covid-19 patients. All were dead by the end of the month. According to a national KFF/Washington Post poll, a majority of healthcare workers say the Covid-19 crisis is taking a toll on their mental health. Citing stress and burnout, 3 in 10 clinicians have considered leaving the profession. In this episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, Jeremy Corr and Dr. Robert Pearl discuss the rising professional dissatisfaction of doctors and their risk of PTSD once the pandemic is over. Here are the questions that were asked and answered [and when] on this week’s show: [00:58] Each show begins with the most recent and relevant facts concerning the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on American life. What’s happening and what does it mean? [06:41] Does exercise prevent severe Covid-19 symptoms? [09:33] What’s up with mandatory vaccines on college campuses? [11:04] Was the J&J pause good or bad for public trust? [13:17] How has Covid-19 impacted healthcare workers? [15:11] How widespread is vaccine hesitancy in the United States? [19:00] Listener question: “You guys talked about long-Covid a couple episodes ago. Is there an update on this? Have scientists learned anything new on that front?” [20:20] Any good news this week? [22:41] Texas vs. California: how do their infection, death and vaccine stats compare? [26:22] How comfortable should we be with: air travel, dining in restaurants and attending sporting events? [28:21] Will doctors and hospitals begin to charge out-of-pocket fees for Covid-19 related care? [29:57] How to explain high number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths in a state like Michigan, which was stricter than most? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. If you have coronavirus questions for the hosts, please visit the contact page or send us a mehttps://fixinghealthcarepodcast.com/contact-us/ssage on Twitter or LinkedIn. *To maintain the credibility of this program, Coronavirus: The Truth refuses to accept sponsorship, outside funding sources or guests with any financial or personal conflicts of interest. The post CTT #37: Will pandemic stress cause clinicians to quit medicine? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

The FDA has recommended a temporary pause of the J&J vaccine until scientists can sort out what’s causing a rare (and, in one case, fatal) blood clot in a six women who received the vaccine. Recently, a CDC advisory panel opted to delay its vote on the safety of the J&J vaccine, needing more data and information before rendering its verdict. In this episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, Jeremy Corr and Dr. Robert Pearl look deeper at the scientific details, facts, and next steps concerning the J&J vaccine. Here are the questions that were asked and answered [and when] on this week’s show: [00:56] Each show begins with the most recent and relevant facts concerning the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on American life. What’s happening and what does it mean? [04:44] Dozens of listeners have asked about the J&J vaccine. What’s happening with Johnson & Johnson and the rare blood-clot in question? [16:36] What’s the difference between an anti-vaxxer and someone who’s vaccine-hesitant? [17:55] Is one vaccine safer and more effective than the others? [20:44] Is it likely the the mRNA research that led to Pfizer and Moderna vaccines lead to future vaccines against other viruses, such as malaria? [24:41] What do we know about the psychological impact of getting Covid-19? [26:25] What do scientists know about the transmissibility and lethality of the coronavirus variant B.1.1.7 from the United Kingdom.? [28:46] What’s good this week? [32:27] Pfizer’s CEO predicts we’ll need booster shots in the future. Why did he say that and how often would we need them? [34:50] Has the bruhaha over the J&J vaccine affected people’s overall perception of vaccine safety? [37:49] How can we close the perception gap between vaccine hesitant Americans and those who desire to see our country achieve herd immunity? [42:28] What should parents know about Covid-19 this week? [45:36] We saw public health officials tout “wear a mask, stay at home, and get the vaccine” early and often. Why haven’t they championed a similar approach for dealing with our nation’s obesity problem? [52:48] In Europe, cases are spiking and hospitals are filling up. What’s going on? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. If you have coronavirus questions for the hosts, please visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn. *To ensure the credibility of this program, Coronavirus: The Truth refuses to accept sponsorship, outside funding sources or guests with any financial or personal conflicts of interest. The post CTT #36: Is the J&J vaccine scare an overreaction or scientifically valid? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Alison Hadden is a lifelong athlete, an adventurer and was, by age 38, a marketing executive at three different billion-dollar tech companies. But in 2018, Alison says “life burst through the door.” She was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. Three years later, she is grappling with a terminal diagnosis. Neither Alison nor her doctors are certain how much time she has left. And yet, Alison often finds herself waiting and waiting … and waiting on the people who provide her medical care. After she first felt a lump in her breast, she waited more than a month for her diagnosis. After scheduling a recent call with her oncologist to go over lab results, she waited by her phone for over three hours. Alison got so sick of waiting weeks for her appointments that she started bribing the scheduling nurses with donuts. In this episode, learn about the culture of medicine from a patient with no time to waste.   Interview Highlights from Alison Hadden   On the painstaking process of getting diagnosed “I was 38 years old at the time, was super fit, athlete my whole life, had, I think, gone out for a eight or 10 mile trail run. And when I came back that day, I just had recognized when I was getting in the shower that there was a lump in my breast and I got on it pretty quickly, assuming it was nothing, but wanting to make sure I did everything I could …  It took probably a week for me to get an appointment and that was me working hard to try and get the earliest appointment that I could. I had another week or two weeks until I was able to get my mammogram scheduled, and then another week to get the biopsy scheduled. And I was diagnosed, probably about a month after initially finding that lump in September of 2018, I was diagnosed with stage three.” On ‘project-managing’ her own cancer treatment  “I was super overwhelmed. The news of this came in as a complete shock. Friends said that I was like the healthiest person they know, didn’t drink, smoke, do drugs, appeared very fit. So, this was just a huge shock to myself and my family. And the overwhelming sort of tidal wave of appointments and scans, and the second opinions, everything that happened in that first six weeks, was just so much. And I remember thinking, gosh, I am so on top of things, I have a bias towards action when I’m anxious. I can’t imagine someone that was older if they had to navigate my situation, if someone was not tech savvy, or even kind of like fast on their feet, and if someone was living alone and having to navigate all of it by themselves … I was a marketing executive in the tech industry. I was used to taking charge and leading. And I was project-managing my own cancer treatment.” On Covid-19 vaccine vs. cancer-care experience “If I can schedule a COVID vaccine through a CVS, why can’t I use a mobile app to book my labs next week before chemo and be able to change it up until a certain point? Why can’t I do that? Why do I still need a human scheduler … She looks at the schedule and then we go through it together. Why?” On patient anxieties that doctors don’t seem to understand “I love my oncologist. I think he’s fantastic. But even he, a couple of days ago, had told me, ‘You’re going to get the brain scan on Wednesday. You’re going to get the chest scan on Thursday. And then Friday morning, I’ll call you with the results.’ And it’s Friday morning and it’s 8:00, I set my alarm. It’s 9:00, it’s 10:00. At 10:00, I was bursting so I left his office a message and basically just said, ‘Hi, I’m still here waiting nervously, anxiously waiting.’ And I got a call around noon, or maybe 12:30, and he apologized right away and just said, ‘Sorry. I had a lot of things going on this morning.’” On living with the reality of death “I have no choice but to confront my mortality on a daily basis, but also find a way to not live in such fear of the unknown and the uncertainty around what’s it going to look like? When is it going to happen? What’s the deterioration going to be? The more I worry about the future, the more I’m taking away from the present. And all I’m trying to do is live for now and maximize my moments in a 24-hour period, which is everything that [my podcast] No Time to Waste is about. It’s about confronting that mortality, crafting a life without regrets, and maximizing moments based on the things I talk about, which is gratitude, human connection, and joy.” READ: Full transcript of our latest discussion with Alison Hadden Fixing Healthcare is in its fifth season, which focuses on the culture of medicine. For Dr. Robert Pearl, this topic is of vital importance to the health and well-being of patients. For years, he has been researching and reporting on physician culture—efforts that will culminate in the publication of his 2021 book, “Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Is Killing Doctors & Patients.” * * * Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post FHC #32: A patient with terminal cancer opens up about her doctors appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

As vaccines get rolled out to younger and younger Americans, parents have questions and are raising serious concerns. Polls show just half of U.S. parents plan to get their children vaccinated for COVID-19 as soon as they can, according to the latest Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index. But what does the science say about vaccinating children? The efficacy data look promising. Pfizer recently announced its vaccine is 100% effective in protecting against Covid-19 infection in children ages 12-15. The company has already begun trials in children six months to 11 years old, which raises the question: How young is too young to be vaccinated? In this episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, Jeremy Corr and Dr. Pearl discuss that coronavirus topic and many others. Here are the questions that were asked and answered [and when] on this week’s show: [00:55] Each show begins with the most recent and relevant facts concerning the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on American life. What’s happening and what does it mean? [04:27] What has gone right with the Covid-19 vaccine and what problems remain? (see Dr. Pearl’s latest Forbes article for more on this) [12:22] Is the vaccine rollout a national case study in haves vs. have nots? [16:46] How soon after being vaccinated do people have immunity? How safe is it to travel? [20:30] With no more than 250 million people needing the vaccine to reach herd immunity, why has the U.S. purchase 600 million vaccine doses? [26:03] What’s up with AstraZeneca? [28:23] What’s good this week? [31:17] What do polls say about the willingness of Americans to be vaccinated? [33:11] Who’s getting sick from Covid-19 now that most elderly people are vaccinated? [35:35] Why aren’t the media covering the extremely high risk obesity poses to Covid-19 patients and our nation as whole? [43:16] What’s it going to take to convince vaccine hesitant Americans that the shots are safe and effective and far better than getting Covid-19? [48:06] Why are the Chinese and Russians outpacing the U.S. in terms of helping vaccinate citizens around the world? Is America at risk of losing its global reputation and influence? [50:11] Listener question: “For so long there appeared to be a vaccine shortage. Why are states now offering vaccines to practically everyone?” [52:26] Should kids get vaccinated? How young is too young? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. If you have coronavirus questions for the hosts, please visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn. *To ensure the credibility of this program, Coronavirus: The Truth refuses to accept sponsorship, outside funding sources or guests with any financial or personal conflicts of interest. The post CTT #35: How young is too young to be vaccinated? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

On Forbes, Dr. Robert Pearl wrote about his recent trip from San Diego to New York, which he referred to as the “Covid-19 Flight From Hell.” The article has been read by hundreds of thousands of people, most of whom were horrified by Pearl’s experience with the infected passenger and curious about what (if anything) the airline industry had to say for itself. In this episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, Jeremy Corr and Dr. Pearl discuss flying in the waning months of the Covid-19 era and whether Americans prefer the feeling of safety over actually being safe. Here are the questions asked and answered on this week’s show: Each week, the show begins with the most recent and relevant facts of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on American life. What’s happening and what does it mean? Can vaccinated grandparents visit their unvaccinated grandkids? What’s the new guidance? When it comes to mental health, what’s new? Listener question: “I’m hearing that the AstraZeneca vaccine causes blood clots. Is it dangerous? Should I avoid taking it if offered?” Listener question: “I’m planning to have back surgery this month, but I had a mild case of the coronavirus a couple of weeks ago. How long do I need to wait?” Why did the CDC change the “social distance” expectation for students from six feet to three? Any good news this week? Numerous listeners wrote in about Dr. Pearl’s widely read article, “The Covid-19 Flight From Hell.” What did the airlines have to say? Listener question: “I’m confused about how people can transmit the coronavirus after they are vaccinated and therefore not being able to come in direct contact with unvaccinated people. Can you elaborate?” What’s new when it comes to the “long haulers” discussed in episode 31? Why did Miami, Florida seem caught off guard by rowdy spring breakers? What would it take to bring Americans together amid a great political divide? What’s up with the Covid-19 death rates in Florida and California? 2020 was the deadliest year in U.S. history. Was that because of Covid-19? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. If you have coronavirus questions for the hosts, please visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn. *To ensure the credibility of this program, Coronavirus: The Truth refuses to accept sponsorship, outside funding sources or guests with any financial or personal conflicts of interest. The post CTT #34: What happened after Dr. Pearl’s ‘Covid-19 flight from hell’? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Dr. Jen Gunter is known by many titles. She’s been called Twitter’s resident gynecologist, the Internet’s OB-GYN, and medicine’s fiercest advocate for women’s health. In her writing for The New York Times (and in her bestselling book The Vagina Bible), Gunter has gone after some of the nation’s most powerful players. “I’ve taken on politicians, I’ve taken on the wellness industrial complex, and most recently, Vagisil, and they’re awful campaign to make teens embarrassed about their normal body smells and function,” she told Fixing Healthcare hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. In 2015, Gunter’s blistering critiques of Goop, the wellness empire headed by Gwyneth Paltrow, became an internet sensation, sparking a national debate about the pseudoscience that surrounds health and wellness products. In this episode of Fixing Healthcare, Dr. Gunter takes on the culture of medicine, looking at the role sexism plays in the careers of doctors, the health of patients and the stories we tell about women’s bodies. Jen Gunter’s Interview Highlights On the dangers of Goop and the ‘wellness-industrial complex’ “A site like Goop is particularly dangerous, because it mixes good quality information, and they have some good information, with absolute harmful trash. So for example, they sell a coffee enema kit, they promote drinking raw milk, they have people who write content for them who are anti-vaxxers. And so, we know that it just takes one exposure to a medical conspiracy theory for people to start thinking that maybe that’s something they should worry about. Conspiracy theories are very sticky that way. When I’m battling a site like that, it’s because either their products are super harmful.” On Gunter’s own near-death delivery “After I delivered, I had sepsis. And I was on two different antibiotics afterwards I was deteriorating and nobody was listening to me. My oxygen levels were dropping, my pH level wasn’t changing. Nobody was listening to me, and I spent a day and a half dying in my hospital bed. It wasn’t until I started screaming and got hysterical and yelled at the attending that I got the care I needed. Now, imagine if I wasn’t a physician, imagine if I was being victimized by racism. I would have died.” On the word vagina “When it came time to promote the book (The Vagina Bible), my publisher Kensington wanted to do promoted ads on Twitter and on Facebook. And they were turned down when it had the word ‘vagina’ in it … And my understanding too, is for a lot of the morning shows, saying the word vagina and vulva is a challenge, because I guess they don’t want kids who are eating breakfast with their families to hear the word. I mean, that’s problematic. There’s nothing wrong with saying the words vagina and vulva.” On how doctors treat women “I really do feel that women are not listened to in the way that men are, or they have a harder time navigating the system because of that. It just seems that many times, they’re told their pain isn’t that serious. Or they’re told it’s not that bad, or they’re told they’re bleeding isn’t that heavy … I believe a lot of it is just part of the general ways that society dismisses concerns related to the reproductive tract.” On how doctors treat Black women “Serious cancer concerns aside, the rate of having ovaries removed is much higher for Black women than it is for white women or Hispanic women. And that can really only be explained with racism, with either people having less access to quality care, people having their concerns not heard, people thinking that you don’t deserve quality care.” On sexism in medical training   “I trained in the 80s and the early 90s, and you had to be just like the guys and you had to be as tough. And certainly, where I trained there was very little room for someone in a surgical specialty to not act like … a stereotypical version of a male surgeon. You just had to be tough, you had to suck it up. And I think that having only one type of person in a field is terrible … I was in medicine 20 years before there was a woman who was the chair of my department, so I think that says something.” READ: Full transcript of our discussion with Jen Gunter Fixing Healthcare is in its fifth season, which focuses on the culture of medicine. For Dr. Robert Pearl, this topic is of vital importance to the health and well-being of patients. For years, he has been researching and reporting on physician culture—efforts that will culminate in the publication of his 2021 book, “Uncaring: How Physician Culture Is Killing Doctors & Patients.” * * * Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post Episode 31: Dr. Jen Gunter vs. sexism, pseudoscience & the wellness-industrial complex appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Moderna, Pfizer and now Johnson & Johnson have emerged as surprising heroes of the Covid-19 pandemic—pulling our nation out of this pandemic one vaccine shot at a time. This week, however, co-host Jeremy Corr raised a thought-provoking question: Why aren’t generic drug makers getting involved to help speed up vaccine production and end this pandemic faster? Do name-brand drug companies have any obligation to hand over their patents to generic drug manufacturers? Would it make a difference if they did? In this episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, Jeremy and Dr. Robert Pearl discuss the ethical and legal implications of drug development during a national crisis. Here’s everything that was discussed [and when] on this episode: [00:55] Each week, the show begins with the most recent and relevant facts of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on American life. What’s happening and what does it mean? [05:20] Listener question: “We seem to be learning more about the Covid-19 vaccines each week. Is anything still uncertain?” [12:40] Who’s still hesitant to take the vaccine and why? [15:15] Nursing homes were responsible for approximately 40% of deaths in the early phases of the pandemic. What about now? [16:50] Listener question: “How does the mutation rate of this virus compares to others we’ve seen in the past?” [20:00] Pfizer has requested FDA approval to meet less stringent storage and transportation requirements. What happened with that? [21:03] Why aren’t drug companies required to hand over their patents to generic drug manufacturers in order to speed up production and end the pandemic? [23:52] Any especially good news this week? [25:57] Mental health remains a major worry for educators and parents. What are we learning? [27:54] Any new insights on the origin of the virus one year later? [30:50] Some states like Texas are talking about eliminating any Covid-related restrictions whereas officials like Dr. Fauci describe these as foolish and dangerous actions. Discuss … [36:00] Obesity is known as a major contributor to complications and deaths from Covid-19. Why is America’s weight problem only treated as a wake-up call? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. If you have coronavirus questions for the hosts, please visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn. *To ensure the credibility of this program, Coronavirus: The Truth refuses to accept sponsorship, outside funding sources or guests with any financial or personal conflicts of interest. The post CTT #33: Why aren’t we producing generic vaccines? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

A respected doctor recently published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal predicting, “We’ll have herd immunity by April.” Many other respected doctors took to social media to contradict him, arguing it’s too early to claim victory over the disease. For months now, co-hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr have been closely monitoring the debate and data surrounding our nation’s immunity status. If one thing’s clear, it’s that nothing is clear. The scientific community seems split right down the middle. Pearl points out that there are two camps emerging in the debate over herd immunity: Those who are more cautious and those who are more optimistic. In this episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, Pearl explains how both sides might be right. Here’s everything that was discussed [and when] on this episode: [00:58] Each week, the show begins with the most recent and relevant facts of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on American life. What’s happening and what does it mean? [05:00] Listener question: “The number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths seem to move up and down so fast that my head is spinning! What’s going on?” [08:02] What are the latest vaccine updates? [13:25] Listener question: “Do scientists know anything more about vaccinations for pregnant women?” [15:02] Should people who’ve had Covid-19 be vaccinated? [19:24] Some people are forgoing the second shot for fear of an allergic reaction. Good idea? [20:56] Any updates on the various mutant strains? [23:50] J&J’s vaccine is approved: Yay! Any other good news this week? [26:02] NYC drama: Early in the pandemic, Governor Cuomo was held up as a coronavirus hero. Now everyone seems to be against him. What’s the truth behind all this drama? [29:25] What should we make of the mental health statistics emerging from the pandemic? [32:08] Last year, Mardi Gras was a super spreader event. What happened this year in New Orleans? [33:11] We’ve now passed a half million deaths in the United States, as Dr. Pearl reluctantly predicted in October 2020. If we had known at the start of the pandemic that a vaccine would be highly effective, safe and available in less than a year, what might we have done differently early on? [34:29] What’s new from a global perspective? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. If you have coronavirus questions for the hosts, please visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn. *To ensure the credibility of this program, Coronavirus: The Truth refuses to accept sponsorship, outside funding sources or guests with any financial or personal conflicts of interest. The post CTT #32: Is herd immunity almost here? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

When the producers of Fox first reached out to Dr. Lisa Sanders with the idea of turning her New York Times column into a TV show called House, she was intrigued. “Tell me how that’s going to work,” she said, “I mean, what’s the show about?” One of the executive producers replied, “Well, it’s about an irritable, arrogant and drug addicted doctor who hates patients and loves diagnosis.” Dr. Sanders recalls thinking, “Who would watch such a show?” The answer, it turned out, was billions of people, thanks in part to Sanders, who agreed to become the show’s medical consultant. Dr. Lisa Sanders is now an associate professor of internal medicine at the Yale School of Medicine and a contributing writer for New York Times Magazine. In 2019, Dr. Sanders created the Netflix miniseries Diagnosis, in which she relied on crowdsourcing to unravel complex medical mysteries. In this interview, she diagnoses the invisible yet highly influential physician culture, looking at the many ways doctors both help and harm their patients.   Highlights from this episode with Lisa Sanders   1. On the conflict between compassionate care and computerized care “Why would those be in contrast? It’s not like we’re suggesting that (doctors) should have four arms instead of two arms. We’re saying that they should have both a right arm and a left arm like everybody else. I mean, there’s not a choice between choosing technical expertise and choosing somebody you like. That’s just not a real choice.” 2. On dealing with sexism as a doctor “I came from an extremely sexist business before going to medical school. I mean, before I was in medical school, I worked for CBS News, where if you blinked an eye when a cameraman called you hon, or a correspondent patted you on the butt, you were just in big trouble. You weren’t going to get anywhere. Very early in my professional life, I learned to just turn an eye and focus on what I needed to get done, because these jerks, you can’t fix them.” 3. On bringing medical culture into the 21st century “Culture by its nature changes pretty slowly because it’s sub rosa. It’s not something that people embrace. The version of the Hippocratic oath that you took and that I took is different at every institution. It ain’t law, right? It doesn’t really reflect the real culture that exists here, that is so much more subtle and more amorphous than those little oaths that we all recite when we get our MDs. I think that the younger generations of women and men coming into medicine, pointing out the ways this culture doesn’t see them or sees them and thinks badly of them, or sees their patients and thinks badly of their patients, I mean, all we can do is try to work on our little plot of ground, because that’s how culture changes.” 4. On surprise medical billing “I think all of this surprise billing should just be banned. Period. I had to go in for a procedure not long ago, and at every step of the way, I said, ‘Can you assure me that everyone here who will be involved in my care takes my insurance, because I’m not going to pay any surprise bills?’ It’s ridiculous that somebody who’s sick has to do that, and yet, that’s where we are. That’s where we are because we have stopped thinking that rules are helpful. Rules are helpful.” 5. When college students ask about becoming a doctor “I say it’s the best. It’s the best. I didn’t go to medical school, obviously, to make a lot of money. I say ‘obviously’ because not only am I an internist, which is I believe still third from the bottom of income scales with only pediatricians and endocrinologists below us. I’m a general internist, and I’m an academic general internist. Not only do I not make much money compared to everybody else, I make even less money by working through a university, but it doesn’t matter to me. That’s not why I did it. I think that when it comes down to it, people want to do the jobs that give them joy.” 6. On what doctors owe their patients “Most of these people (who write to me) do not have rare diseases, but I think far too often, they don’t have a relationship with a doctor who’s paying attention. When I attend on the wards, I (see) patients who pass through the hospital untouched by human thought. Every single patient has to be touched by thought. That’s what I teach, and that’s what I try to practice. It’s what keeps medicine interesting is knowing that every single patient you see is different from everyone you’ve seen before, even though they might share similarities. I think that a lot of patients end up writing to me because they feel untouched by human thought.” READ: Full transcript of our latest discussion with Lisa Sanders Fixing Healthcare is now in its fifth season, which focuses on the culture of medicine. For Dr. Robert Pearl, this topic is of vital importance to the health and well-being of patients. For years, he has been researching and reporting on physician culture—efforts that will culminate in the publication of his 2021 book, “Uncaring: How Physician Culture Is Killing Doctors And Patients.” * * * Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post Episode 30: ‘Diagnosis’ doctor Lisa Sanders examines medical culture appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

A listener of this show wrote in with a question about her ongoing coronavirus symptoms. A month after testing positive, she’s still not back to feeling like herself. According to the data, she’s not alone. All across the country, there are millions of these so-called “long-haulers,” and the actual number of people who fall into this category might be even larger than we initial thought. Patients who continue to experience Covid-19 symptoms talk about “brain fog,” difficulty sleeping, ongoing exhaustion, inability to regain sense of taste or smell, and in some cases, damage to the heart, lung or kidney. So, what’s “normal” in terms of recovery from the Covid-19 disease and what do scientists know about these long-haulers? In this episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, Jeremy Corr and Dr. Robert Pearl dive into this issue and answer listener questions. Here’s what was discussed [and when] on this episode: [00:53] Each week, the show begins with the most recent and relevant facts of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on American life. What’s happening and what does it mean? [06:08] What’s the status of the mysterious Russian vaccine? [08:00] Listener question: “I had the coronavirus a month ago and am still not back to feeling like myself. Is this common?” [10:45] What does data tell us about this pandemic and mental health issues? [12:16] What’s the controversy surrounding the Johnson & Johnson vaccine? [17:05] Got any good news this week? [19:16] What happens when you get the first vaccine dose from one manufacturer and the second from a different one? [21:45] One year into the pandemic and we have three vaccines but no effective treatments outside of a steroid to reduce inflammation. Why? [25:47] Better equipped to manage vaccine distribution: businesses or the government? [26:42] As a patient, does co-host Jeremy Corr have any advice or request for the Biden administration? [28:14] Listener question: “Can you talk about the success of the vaccination program in Israel? Anything Americans can take from it?” This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. If you have coronavirus questions for the hosts, please visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn. *To ensure the credibility of this program, Coronavirus: The Truth refuses to accept sponsorship, outside funding sources or guests with any financial or personal conflicts of interest. The post CTT #31: How long do Covid-19 symptoms persist? What’s a normal recovery? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.