A re-emergence of polio
Just as we were on the cusp of eradicating polio from the globe we have a new outbreak.
Episodes
Second Opinion
An examination of medical ethics and the practitioners who define them. Sign up to receive the Second Opinion topics in newsletter form at kcrw.com/newsletters .
Episodes
The impact of a changing mental health diagnosis
The name of a disease often has greater implications than the disease itself.
Learning and Practicing Medicine on Real Patients
Despite lots of advances in simulation, at some point trainees still need to learn on sick patients.
Psilocybin: a treatment for depression
A new treatment with some unusual effects we need to understand before we agree to treatment.
Medical prior authorizations for drugs and devices
Medical prior authorizations are intended to deter prescribing and save insurance companies money. Their real impact is to decrease the quality of care for people with chronic diseases.
Orphan drugs to treat rare disease
Orphan drugs are often exceedingly expensive which beg the question of how much should we pay for a drug and how do we measure effectiveness?
Can the treatment of serious mental illness be futile?
Can we reach a point when there is nothing left to offer a person with serious mental illness? Can they refuse treatment at this point?
Health Disparities for those with disabilities
For too long those with disabilities have had poorer health outcomes.
Do friends influence our body weight?
Weight loss is never easy, but is it easier to do together than alone?
The science behind setting goals
Choosing wisely and setting milestones optimizes our chance of success.
Missing signs of elder abuse
It is often easy to miss the signs of elder abuse which can be insidious and deadly.
Political promotion of a medicine can be powerful
New research shows that the use of hydroxychloroquine for covid treatment was widespread and did not impact all populations equally.
What is low value health care?
If we can reliably designate some care as “low value”, then why do we still offer those treatments?
Informing relatives at risk of genetic disease
Who owns a patients’ test results and does the health provider have a duty to warn at risk relatives?
How do we know if a drug works?
Why aren’t patients given useful information on the effectiveness of medications?
Sex difference in surgical referrals
Female surgeons with similar experience and skill get fewer referrals than comparably trained male surgeons.
Written words matter
When people read doctor’s note they can feel offended and disrespected.
When to stop antidepressants?
Its easy to start antidepressants but when is a good time to stop taking them?
Back scratching: Medicine and drug companies
The relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and the medical profession is unhealthy and it impacts us all.
Daily aspirin to prevent heart attacks
Why did it take so long to change the recommendations about the preventive effects of aspirin?
The fallacy of Kubler-Ross stages of dying
Grieving is important and complex; there is no one “right way” to do it.
Pregnancy, mental health, and more
Pregnancy poses unique mental health challenges that we need to address urgently.
A new twist for cigarette related disease
Making profits from creating a disease and then making more profit from treating the same disease.
Dairy products and health
A close look at the health benefits of dairy products suggests the recommended 3 glasses of milk a day may not be a healthy choice.
Practicing What You Preach
How is advice to loose weight received from a clinician who is themselves overweight?
Lessons from 9-11
We have learned some important lessons about caring for people from 9-11 we can apply to those impacted by COVID.
Robots in surgery
At this point, surgical robots are not all they are cracked up to be.
Defensive Medicine
Defensive medicine add costs but not value to clinical care.
Using the MRI to evaluate common back pain
While the MRI can be enormously useful for a small number of people with back pain, when overused for common back pain it can lead to some serious problems.
The Legacy of Albert Bandura
Bandura, one of the top five psychologists of all time challenged our approach to learning and changing human behavior.