A Practical Guide to Terrible Decisions

This week on Sawbones, we examine how Black Americans have received substandard care and fewer opportunities within the American medical system. Also, some guidance on how to protest as safely as possible in the face of COVID-19.Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones Become a supporter of this podc...

Fear that the government and doctors were allied in a grand conspiracy to oppress the populace was at a fever pitch. The people took to the streets to prove that they would not abide by quarantine, that they would defy the powers that be and go on about their daily lives. The year is 1831. The disease is cholera. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content!...

It should come as no surprise that the Sawbones inbox has been chockablock with questions about the ongoing ... unpleasantness. This week, we're trying to group your COVID-19 queries in an orderly fashion and answer them to the best of our ability. Well, the best of Sydnee's ability. Justin just talks about dandruff shampoo. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bon...

Did you know that cabin fever isn't just the cooped-up funk we all find ourselves in? It's a real actual disease called typhus -- or at least, it used to be. It's confusing, we know, but this week we're gonna walk you through all the extremely gross details. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers   Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones...

Two doctors made headlines this week by trying to construct the narrative that the COVID-19 pandemic has been overblown by the hospital system in pursuit of more profits. This week, Dr. Sydnee and Justin explain why their numbers don't add up, and how you can combat this narrative if it, depressingly, sticks around. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus conten...

This week on Sawbones, we discuss Philadelphia's disastrous Fourth Liberty Loan Parade that helped reignite the 1918 influenza epidemic in the region. We'll also examine some other unnerving similarities between that century-old disaster and our current situation. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawb...

This week on Sawbones, we dive into the backstory of Dr. Anthony Fauci, a beacon of hope and reason for so many in these troubling days. In the back half of the show, we also talk about a bunch of coronavirus bulls**t that you knew was bulls**t but we're gonna tell you anyway. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers 1 Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumf...

There are some pushing hydroxychloroquine as a miracle treatment for COVID-19 in a way that should seem familiar (and a little scary) to long-time Sawbones listeners. This week, we'll talk about the long history of this medicine and why promoting it as a COVID-19 cure is so dangerous to those who already depend on it for other (actual scientifically-proven) uses. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayer...

This week on Sawbones, it's the fascinating, inspiring and infuriating story of Ignaz Semmelweis. You'll learn how he discovered why it was so important for doctor's to wash their hands and why it took so long for doctors to believe him. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones Become a supporter of...

The COVID-19 outbreak has recently pushed masks and other protective equipment into the forefront of the global conversation, especially as a shortage threatens medical professionals on the front lines. This week on Sawbones, how masks changed the world of medicine, and what happens when there aren't enough to go around. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus c...

Surprise! This week our medical history podcast is about the biggest medical history event in any of our lifetimes. Let's talk about home testing! Social distancing! And some reflections from Sydnee after a week at the hospital. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones Become a supporter of this podc...

Once again, we're putting Justin at peril of being supremely yucked out by your weirdest medical queries: Should your pee smell so good? Why is your earwax that color? Why did your mom choose the name Fred for that blood-filled lump on her leg? Yup, it's a weird one, folks. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.or...

This week on Sawbones, it's the story of how Yellow Fever killed 10 percent of Philadelphia, destroyed the government and made everyone rethink their collection of decorative standing water. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/...

For reasons we assume you can guess, we're discussing the history of quarantine, and how its historical misuse should make you particularly alert in the days and weeks to come as the world continues to combat COVID-19. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones Become a supporter of this podcast: https...

We love grave robbers on Sawbones and ... well, that came out wrong. We don't have a particular affinity for today's grave robbers, but they've played an important role in medical research and ... we're still defending grave robbers, aren't we? OK, listen. Let's start over. This is an episode about a really bad grave robber. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bon...

This week on Sawbones, it's the truly embarrassing story of why we spent several centuries thinking it was important for us to make wounds as pus-filled as possible. There's no nice way of saying it folks: This is a gross one. Music: "Medicines" by  The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones Become a supporter of this podca...

This week on Sawbones, things are getting hot! Well, no, come to think of it, they’re doing the opposite. They’re getting colder. And by “they” we mean “we.” We’re getting colder, all of us. Probably. What should you do about it? Nothing. For now, you’ll just have to -- wait for it -- chill. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at htt...

This week on Sawbones, we've got a no-panic-allowed history of coronavirus along with a guide to the current strain that has held the headlines in a stranglehold in the past weeks. Even if you don't listen to the episode, take heart: If you're outside of China, it's likely you're more scared than you need to be at the moment. Music: "Medicines" by  The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock b...

Would it surprise you to learn that people with too much money are flocking to "IV bars" and paying hundreds of dollars for intravenous cocktails of vitamins that are supposed to treat every malady under the sun but do absolutely nothing except risk serious infection? ... It probably doesn't surprise you, does it? Yeah, us neither. God, that's depressing. Anyway, here's a podcast. Music: "Medicine...

This week on Sawbones, we celebrate a trip to Minnesota with an exploration of Viking's Disease. You'll meet the people it isn't really named for and the guy who beat out a long line of researchers to get it named after himself. It's a whole thing. You'll see. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones...

We bidets have been all the rage for years around the globe, they never really caught on in the U.S. What part of their seedy history kept them out of American homes? And what (if any) are their health benefits? We've got all that and more on the new Sawbones! Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones...

This week on Sawbones, the incredible true story of how Chicago changed the direction of a river to battle typhoid and cholera. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sawbones-a-practical-guide-to-terrible-decisions--6882425/suppo...

Just in time for Christmas, we've got another extremely special holiday film created by Justin and Sydnee McElroy. Gather the family and prepare for A Medicine Called Christmas 2: A Royal Pain. NARRATOR: Rachel McElroy PHIL: Griffin McElroy TAB: Sydnee McElroy JESUS: Dwight Slappe SORIANO: Travis McElroy CHRIS: Justin McElroy WAITER: Michael Meadows MR. BIG CITY: Tommy Smirl BETH: Teylor Smirl MAN...

You may have seen a Facebook meme claiming that a combination of elderberry and Oscillococcinum can prevent the flu. The truth of the matter may surprise you! (unless you've ever in your life ever listened to even a single episode of our show) Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones Become a support...

Listen, we're not gonna sit here all fancy and act like we didn't just record an entire episode about people sunning their buttholes. That's what happened, nothing can change that. If you don't listen, it was for nothing. Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinsawbones Become a supporter of this podcast: ht...