Fixing Healthcare Podcast

The past week brought promising news from Moderna, a biotech company that announced the results of its early vaccine trials—an announcement that sent the firm’s stock price up 30%. However, it didn’t take long for the company to receive intense backlash from the scientific community for refusing to release all its testing data. Is Moderna simply trying to maintain an advantage over its competitors or are the company’s results less promising than indicated during its massive media event? And what about drug maker Gilead Sciences, which U.S. doctors and scientists say is withholding data about the antiviral drug remdesivir and its use in treating COVID-19. In episode 11 of Coronavirus: The Truth, Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr separate reality from hype in the development of coronavirus vaccines and medications.  [00:58] What are the most recent and relevant facts concerning the coronavirus pandemic? [03:50] The CDC reported one-third of people infected with coronavirus are asymptomatic (showing no symptoms). What does that mean for our hopes of corralling the virus? [07:45] What were the results of Moderna’s initial COVID-19 vaccine trials?  [16:32] Is it possible Americans could have a mass produced vaccine ready as early as October? [18:56] What are the two biggest threats facing businesses right now?   [20:28] How are doctors and hospitals faring during the COVID-19 pandemic? [22:51] A company in Iowa is manufacturing face shields as an alternative to masks. Good idea? Bad idea? [24:43] Will patients continue to seek virtual medical care once the pandemic ends?   [25:55] Why are some store owners opting to remaining closed when states are urging them to reopen? [27:27] Is it true that the coronavirus mortality rate varies by race and socioeconomics? If you enjoyed last week’s “practical survival guide to COVID-19” tune in next week for part two, when Robert and Jeremy will answer the rest of the listener questions they received. If you have coronavirus questions you’d like the hosts to discuss next week, visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn.   This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. *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 #11: Is a COVID-19 vaccine almost ready? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Looking over the horizon of the current coronavirus pandemic, it’s hard to get a clear picture of the “new normal” everyone seems to be talking about. As Dr. Robert Pearl wrote in his latest Forbes column, health experts continue to debate the timeline for an effective coronavirus vaccine while financial experts continue to debate the best course for reopening the nation’s economy. In episode 10 of Coronavirus: The Truth, Robert and his co-host Jeremy Corr examine the possibilities for a “new normal” in the near future. To do so, they look at successes and failures of other nations’ recovery efforts so far, break down the biggest opportunities and threats facing American patients and businesses, and dive into the latest on congressional stimulus efforts: [00:59] What major coronavirus updates emerge from the past week? [03:31] What’s the difference between isolation and quarantine? [04:29] Sweden imposed only minimal restrictions on businesses and kept its schools open. What were the results and what can the U.S. learn? [06:56] South Korea responded quickly and aggressively early on to contain the virus. So why did the country close down businesses again last week? [08:35] Based on current facts, what will the “new normal” look like in spring 2021? [10:00] How big is the mental health threat of sheltering in place? [12:06] What were the three biggest failures of the U.S. coronavirus response? [14:52] Why isn’t saliva-based (oral) testing getting more attention on a national level? [17:23] When will we have all of the answers about the coronavirus? [22:59] From a sales and marketing perspective, will the majority of small businesses need shift to an eCommerce strategy? [24:56] The House just passed a $3 trillion bailout bill: What’s its fate and what difference would it make If you have questions you’d like the hosts to discuss on a future episode, visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn. This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. *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 #10: What will the ‘new normal’ look like next year based on current facts? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Each week, Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr receive dozens of questions from friends, colleagues and listeners. Most questions are about practical, everyday concerns. “Can my son visit his girlfriend?” “Should I (finally) get a professional haircut?” “Do I need to wear a mask every time I step outside?” “Will my favorite restaurants bounce back from this?” With so much disinformation and opinion causing so much confusion in the United States, this episode is dedicated to the practical realities of the coronavirus and what the facts mean for our daily lives going forward. In episode 9 of ‘Coronavirus: The Truth, Robert and Jeremy offer listeners a medical and financial survival guide to COVID-19, with answers to these questions and more: [01:14] Could a healthy 20- or 30-something person safely go to a bar now? [03:47] Should I be wearing a mask everywhere I go? At the park? The grocery store? [06:04] When can my kids safely go back to the playground or daycare? [08:49] What about haircuts? When and how can I get back to the barbershop or salon? [11:38] Will restaurants rebound and survive the phased reopening strategies in most states? [15:42] Is it a good sign that so many “emergency field hospitals” are shutting down? [18:34] Will there be a second wave and how bad will it be? [21:05] Aren’t we likelier to die from driving our cars to work than from COVID-19? [26:25] Will more Americans take vaccines more seriously going forward? [27:32] How should we decide the order of who gets a COVID-19 vaccine? [29:11] Will it take 10-12 years to return the U.S. economy to its pre-coronavirus state as some financial experts predict? Have we made the cure worse than the disease? If you have any practical, medical or economical coronavirus questions you’d like the hosts to discuss, visit the contact page or send us a message on Twitter or LinkedIn. This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. *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 #9: A practical survival guide to COVID-19 appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

John Sculley, the former CEO of PepsiCo and Apple, now has his “head in the cloud” as chairman of the Boston-based health-tech company RxAdvance. In this, the fourth season of Fixing Healthcare, Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr are focused on spotlighting big ideas and the people behind them. Sculley, who grew Apple’s sales from $800 million to $8 billion, believes the legacy players in today’s healthcare system will be disrupted by new entrants who will focus on empowering consumers to make better health decisions. In this episode, Sculley answers the following questions about his career, his passion for healthcare and the future of American medicine: How did Steve Jobs convince Sculley to take over as Apple’s CEO? How is Apple different today from the company they built in the ‘80s and ‘90s? Why haven’t any healthcare technologies been able to lower healthcare costs and improve patient health on a national level? What makes the culture special at companies like Apple? Which technology will have the single biggest impact on healthcare in the next five to 10 years? Why are prescription drugs so expensive and what’s the solution? What’s going to motivate Americans to lose weight and lower the risk of diabetes? What will become of Haven, the healthcare startup that combines Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase? Is it possible to get doctors to view the people they care for as consumers rather than patients? What’s holding back disruptive innovation in U.S. healthcare? How do consumers go about separating the hype from the reality of new healthcare technologies? Are tech companies scared by the major legal risks that exist in healthcare? READ: Full transcript of our discussion with John Sculley * * * 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 21: Ex-Apple CEO talks tech and the rise of the healthcare consumer appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

“I find this study to be one of the most encouraging since this pandemic began,” says Dr. Robert Pearl, referring to research out of Yale that confirms new saliva-based testing for COVID-19 is not only less painful and less intrusive than the widely used nasal swab, but also more consistently accurate in detecting the coronavirus. What’s more, these oral tests can be self-administered whereas nasal testing requires a clinical professional to insert six-inch swab deep into the nasal passage. At present, both must be completed at an approved, public testing site. However, scientists are determining whether saliva testing could be approved for in-home use. As politicians and health experts push for more testing in hopes of containing the pandemic, could a more convenient testing alternative prove to be a game-changer in the fight against coronavirus? In episode 8 of ‘Coronavirus: The Truth, Dr. Pearl and Jeremy Corr discuss this and other recent developments: [00:50] What are the most important COVID-19 updates of the past week? [02:22] Are we reopening the country too quickly or not quickly enough? [03:34] What do the latest corporate-earnings reports say about the impact of COVID-19? [04:54] Remdesivir: boom or bust as an effective coronavirus medication? [06:48] A national thinktank predicts the pandemic will last another 12 to 24 months. True? [08:59] What should people make of the latest unemployment and GDP numbers? [11:25] Which COVID-19 symptoms just got added the CDC’s list? Are more to come? [12:53] Will saliva testing be a game-changer in our fight against the pandemic? [16:20] Why has Germany been so successful in containing the virus? [18:11] How will we protect seniors and people with chronic diseases going forward? [19:30] When and how can in-person church services safely resume? [23:54] Why aren’t businesses willing to bail out hospitals and health insurers? [26:52] Will healthcare undergo a much-needed technological overhaul after the pandemic? [29:00] Which parts of the country are reopening the right way? [30:48] Approximately 3 million people have read this coronavirus article. What’s the appeal? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. To submit a question or comment to the hosts, visit the contact page or send 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 #8: Testing, testing: Which COVID-19 test is best? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Dr. Robert Pearl, co-host of this show, struck a chord this week with his most recent Forbes column, “3 Coronavirus Facts Americans Must Know Before Returning To Work,” which quickly shot to No. 1 on the site’s “most popular” list, garnering more than 1 million views. His article offers a full-throated plea for politicians, business owners and workers to embrace the facts surrounding COVID-19 so that we can understand what will happen when our nation eases social-distancing restrictions. This episode examines the latest plans to reopen the country and the health implications of getting Americans back to work. In episode 7 of ‘Coronavirus: The Truth,’ Dr. Pearl and Jeremy Corr discuss these pressing questions: [00:53] What are the most important COVID-19 updates? [01:52] Why are nursing homes so disproportionately affected by the virus? [04:04] In what way is U.S. healthcare still vulnerable in the fight against COVID-19? [05:53] Has anyone pitched a viable strategy available to end the pandemic? [09:06] Does Congress have plan to revive the economy and keep us safe? [11:26] VP Pence said the U.S. is prepared for a second wave. Are we? [12:21] What should Americans know and do before returning to work? [16:44] Who was the first COVID-19 fatality in the U.S. and what can she teach us? [18:52] With 43% of small businesses closed, how long can owners stay afloat? [21:28] Can public surveillance keep Americans safe from another outbreak? [23:39] What painful economic truths await us in the months ahead? [26:36] What healthcare improvements can we expect, post-pandemic? [28:15] Are people immune from future infection once recovered from COVID-19? [30:42] What has surprised physicians about the coronavirus? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. To submit a question or comment to the hosts, visit the contact page or send 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 #7: Is it time to get back to work? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

It was a big week for science in our nation’s ongoing quest to better understand and combat the coronavirus pandemic. Researchers from Stanford University released findings from a study indicating that far more Americans may have already developed antibodies for COVID-19 than previous thought. What might this research reveal about the death rate of the virus and the potential to reopen our economy quickly? Also this past week, a mysterious video from the University of Chicago surfaced in which doctors discussed some promising (but not-yet-published) results from an anti-viral drug called remdesivir. It’s maker, Gilead, saw its stock price soar, but scientists are quick to call out the study’s red flags. What are Americans supposed to make of these scientific findings? In episode 6 of ‘Coronavirus: The Truth, hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr discuss these pressing questions and the following: [00:54] What are the most important COVID-19 updates from the past week? [02:12] What do scientists know now about the coronavirus that they didn’t a month ago? [05:45] The anti-viral drug remdesivir is getting a lot of attention. What’s the catch? [08:51] How would Trump’s plan for reopening the country work? What about local/regional plans? [12:22] Why do some people test positive for COVID-19 even after they’ve recovered? [13:49] Why aren’t grocery shelves fully restocked yet? What’s happening with the U.S. supply chain? [15:14] Is the media’s coverage of the virus scientifically accurate? [16:25] People have begun protesting coronavirus restrictions. Do they have a valid point? [20:03] How safely and swiftly can we reopen the country? [25:40] What has been most surprising about this pandemic? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. To submit a question or comment to the hosts, visit the contact page or send 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 #6: What did scientists learn this week? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Over the past two weeks, high-profile leaders in the worlds of business, politics and health have put forth plans to reopen the country, mitigate further damage from the coronavirus and “crush the curve” rather than just flatten it. Will any of these recommendations work? “To be very blunt, I think they are a bit of fantasy and unlikely to be successful,” says Dr. Robert Pearl, who points to the major logistical flaws of any plan that relies too heavily on COVID-19 testing as a solution. Added Pearl: “People are trying to find a way forward that is relatively painless. And the truth, when it comes to coronavirus, is that there are no fully painless solutions.” Episode 5 of Coronavirus: The Truth offers answers to the following questions: [01:03] How did Dr. Pearl and others predict the current number of deaths so accurately? [04:45] Will it be safe to ease social distancing measures in the coming months? [05:48] A new projection of 60,000 total U.S. deaths is going around. What’s the catch? [07:29] Will there be a second wave of the virus in New York or elsewhere? [08:47] Is it possible to crush the curve rather than just flatten it? [11:49] What should we make of Siddartha Mukherjee’s intriguing research on “dose exposure”? [14:51] What can the U.S. learn from China, Singapore, Italy and Germany? [16:49] Are Americans becoming more or less optimistic about the future? [21:08] Do we know for sure that scientists can produce an effective vaccine for COVID-19? [23:24] Is Sweden’s “low-scale lockdown” something the U.S. can mimic? [26:55] What’s wrong with the COVID-19 recommendations of Joe Biden and Bill Gates? [32:23] What are the biggest unknowns that remain about the coronavirus? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. To submit a question or comment to the hosts, visit the contact page or send 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 #5: Can we ‘crush the curve’ of this pandemic? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Welcome to the first episode of season 4. This season of the Fixing Healthcare podcast focuses on finding big ideas and the people behind them. The journey begins with Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee. He is a physician, virologist, oncologist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. In 2016, he published the New York Times bestseller, The Gene: An Intimate History. And this month, PBS released a Ken Burns two-part documentary based on Mukherjee’s work. In this interview, Dr. Mukherjee discusses the ethics of gene therapy, his hopes for an effective coronavirus medication, why doctors are struggling, and how he’d grade Trump’s response to COVID-19. Dr. Mukherjee’s highlights from episode 20 On the role of physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic Our job as doctors is to tip the equilibrium towards the host, towards the human, and tip the equilibrium away from the virus. And there are various ways one can do this. Vaccination is essentially one way that we tip the equilibrium towards the host, right? … Another strategy is to limit the amount, the dose, or the exposure to the virus, which is by wearing protective equipment. On the real purpose of social distancing The most important thing to do—and the reason that we’re saying that we should be distancing during this time—is to buy us time. And I’m going to repeat that again and again: We need to buy time. We need to buy time so that the hospitals are not overwhelmed and the healthcare workers can be adequately protected and adequately supplied with the equipment that they need to deal with the sickest patients. On hopes for an effective COVID-19 medication I’m confident that there are going to be antibodies that will decrease the effects of this severe disease in patients, they will just take time to make. Chloroquine is a completely different story. Chloroquine is a repurposed drug, it has probably some mild effect against the entry of the virus and the evidence that it changes the course of disease is pretty mild. On the U.S. government’s response to the pandemic I would give the administration a D- grade in the preparation for this pandemic. We knew about this in December, in a globalized world, it is a travesty that medical workers in the frontline, in the wealthiest nation of the world, don’t have the equipment that they need to handle patients. It is a travesty. On the ethics of gene therapy Gene therapy is alive again. There were mistakes made, ethical mistakes, medical mistakes made in the 1990s and 2000s, when we tried to use gene therapy in humans, replacing genes, altering genes in cells, such as blood cells, a little too quickly. And that froze the field for about 10 years, 15 years, but it is alive again. And for diseases such as sickle cell anemia, such as hemophilia, these gene therapies have turned out to be transformational. On the mission-driven spirit of doctors during a pandemic I’m moved to tears every time I hear of a doctor or a nurse on the front lines without protective equipment, who has been infected and is dying because they put the lives of others in front of their lives. A society which does that is fundamentally wrong. There’s something wrong with us. And there will be an autopsy, there will be a dissection, a biopsy, of what has gone wrong, what went wrong with us as human beings, as a society, once the storm blows over. And I hope that one of the elements of that autopsy reminds us that medicine is an occupation that demands a level of sacrifice. And these men and women perform that sacrifice for you, for us, for our parents, for our children, for our loved ones. They did it during the HIV pandemic, they’ve done it during this pandemic. We need to restore their spirits. We need to respect them. On learning from our nation’s failed COVID-19 response Every system that was supposed to work broke in the early days of the pandemic. We need to figure out, as we recover, how to fix those. And only if we fix those, can we become the superpower and the global leader of economy that we once were, and we hope to be again? All I can say is that, this pandemic has been an X-ray or an MRI that we performed on the American medical system. And all the silent aneurysms and the hidden malignancies that were hidden for some people have become apparent. READ: Full transcript of our discussion with Siddhartha Mukherjee * * * 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 20: Siddhartha Mukherjee on COVID-19, genes and physician sacrifice appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Physician and bestselling author Dr. Robert Pearl fears the nation is in denial about the trajectory of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic: “Many people I speak with and nearly all of the news outlets describe this as a back and forth battle with an implication that we will turn the tide, that we’ll win the war, that we’ll defeat COVID-19. These phrases may make sense in a traditional war with a human enemy, but they are non sequiturs when your enemy is a virus.” In this episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr compare the nation’s hopes and expectations against the biological and mathematical realities of the pandemic. Here are the questions covered in episode 4 of Coronavirus: The Truth … [01:03] Is this the week we peak in the United States? [01:47] What three solutions could end the COVID-19 pandemic? [04:19] What will social distancing actually accomplish? [06:50] Will the United States experience a “second wave”? [07:49] Are current mortality (death) estimates accurate? [11:12] Have we already made “the cure worse than the disease”? [15:24] If this is a war, what’s our long-term strategy? *read Dr. Pearl’s COVID-19 plan* [21:22] Should we be wearing masks? What kind? Why? [28:04] What is the C.A.R.E.S. bill? What are its four key parts? [32:14] What parts of the country will see the coronavirus peak sooner vs. later? [37:17] How long is too long before we reopen the U.S. economy? This episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and other podcast platforms. To submit a question or comment to the hosts, visit the contact page or send 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 #4: Is this the week the pandemic peaks? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.