Conversations on Health Care

Acclaimed author Tracy Kidder has tackled another major public health story. This time he looks at Dr. Jim O’Connell’s “urgent mission to bring healing to homeless people” in Boston in the new book “Rough Sleepers.” Dr. O’Connell discusses the challenges running the nonprofit, hurdles to providing housing and the Biden Administration’s plans for reducing homelessness. This conversation with hosts...

We’ve had 82 mass shootings in our country so far this year and the number keeps growing; we’ve never had so many occur in such a short time frame. Gun violence is now the leading cause of death for young children and teenagers in the United States. Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof shares with hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter smarter ways to reduce gun death...

Paxlovid is an oral antiviral pill to treat COVID; data show it reduces serious illness, hospitalization and cases of Long COVID. That’s why Michael Osterholm, Ph. D. wants more doctors to prescribe it. He serves as a White House advisor and is director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. He says, “People have died unnecessarily because they wer...

Ben Jealous, the former NAACP president, is taking charge as the new executive director of the Sierra Club. It’s America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization with nearly 4 million members and supporters. With a strategy focused on equity and activism, Jealous and the Sierra Club are committed to retiring coal plants, preventing new fossil fuel plants from being buil...

FDA vaccine advisor Dr. Paul Offit’s recent article in  JAMA Pediatrics  looks at the millions of 5- to 11-year-old children who received the COVID vaccine. His in-depth research review found that the mRNA vaccine was effective at preventing COVID, symptomatic infection, hospitalization, and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. The vaccine was also safe; myocarditis occurred in very rare...

Dr. Louis Sullivan’s leadership and advocacy for equity in the health professions have taken him from the classroom to the seats of power in Washington. He reflects on his own journey and the challenges that still exist in training people of color to become doctors and for other medical roles. Dr. Sullivan believes, “It’s a combination of a lack of adequate preparation, lack of financial resources...

Dr. Richard Besser, who once led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, doesn’t believe the recently enacted U.S. COVID testing requirement for anyone arriving from China will have much of an impact. Besser, who is currently president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, says he feels such actions are often “more for show than truly for controlling a public health threat” and re...

A top World Health Organization public health official is adding nuance to the agency’s call for more transparency from China, which is coping with a crippling COVID-19 outbreak since it ended its zero-COVID policy last month. Maria Van Kerkhove, Ph. D., WHO Technical Lead for COVID-19 Response, tells “Conversations on Health Care” that “We really need better understanding on the burden and the ho...

We’re proud to have again served as a platform for trusted, informed experts during the third year of the pandemic. This week “Conversations on Health Care” looks back on some of the most insightful comments from doctors and scientists who are on the frontlines of fighting COVID. In addition to NIH’s Dr. Anthony Fauci we had as our guests Dr. Peter Hotez from Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Zeke E...

In early November Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to President Biden, joined us with important pandemic details. It marked his 7th interview with us during his amazing tenure. His COVID comments on our program were picked up by ABC, NBC and many other news outlets and they’re still relevant right now as we face what...

Roughly 112 million Americans voted in the recent mid-term elections and the candidates and issues they voted on will have profound implications for health care policy in the states, at the national level and ultimately in all of our lives. We’re following up on our series called “Health Care on the Ballot” with this discussion focused on the results and what they mean. Join hosts Mark Masselli an...

If we agree that Health Care is a Right, Not a Privilege, how do we make that a reality? Author Charles Barber has captured the engaging details in the new book “Peace & Health: How a group of small-town activists and college students set out to change healthcare.” Veteran news anchorwoman Thalia Assuras interviews Charles about how Community Health Center, Inc., transformed the delivery of he...

Yale University researcher Akiko Iwasaki, Ph. D., says immune profiling shows how Long COVID patients have distinct features not found in control groups. These patients, who also exhibit elevated levels of exhausted T-cells, cause her to express surprise at skeptics. Iwasaki joins Fiona Lowenstein, editor of “The Long COVID Survival Guide,” to discuss patients who say they’re suffering from Long C...

It’s a joyous time, as families begin to gather for Thanksgiving. But experts also say the holidays see a rise in mental health and addiction issues. This week we present an encore interview with Patrick Kennedy, a former member of Congress and a nationally acclaimed mental health and addiction advocate. He’s the founder of The Kennedy Forum, which seeks to revolutionize health care. Kennedy discu...

Dr. Howard Fillit, the Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, focuses the nonprofit on supporting scientists around the globe who are investigating novel drugs to prevent, treat and cure Alzheimer’s disease. He explains to hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter how those investments are paying dividends in terms of diagnostic tools and treatments and w...

Billionaire Mark Cuban never holds back his opinions on TV’s “Shark Tank” and now he’s trying to take a bite out of the health care sector — it might be his biggest challenge yet. Cuban understands he’s up against entrenched lobbyists and bureaucrats as he tries to reform how Americans purchase their pharmaceuticals. Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter ask Cuban to explain his venture Cost Pl...

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to President Biden, tells “Conversations on Health Care” that he’s thinking about what occurs after he leaves his position at the end of the year. Fauci says he’s strictly adhering to ethical rules and not negotiating for any position until after he leaves the government but he broadl...

The data show that 80,816 people died in the U.S. from overdose deaths involving opioids in 2021 - a tremendous loss. But what hope can medical experts, policymakers and law enforcement officers take to stem the trend? Award-winning author Beth Macy, who wrote the acclaimed book 'Dopesick' about the origins of the opioid crisis, now has a book exploring innovative thinking and breakthrough approac...

As of October 6, 2022, all health care organizations in the United States are legally required to give patients unrestricted access to all their health records in a digital format. Micky Tripathi, Ph. D., National Coordinator for Health IT at the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, is excited about this change and its ability to empower patients. Yet the free flow of data also poses security...

Early voting has already started in some parts of the United States as Americans make important decisions about who they want to represent them. The polls show that health-related issues are some of the most important ones to voters this year. We discuss health care on the ballot with policy experts from two prominent Washington D.C. think tanks. Joseph Antos, Ph. D., with the American Enterprise...

In less than five weeks Americans should know the outcome of the midterm elections. Will overturning Roe v. Wade propel Democrats to surprise wins? Will Republicans seize the moment with their vision of how to fix health care? Sheryl Gay Stolberg with The New York Times and Victoria Knight with Axios examine how the November results will likely impact health care policy in the next two years and b...

Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo leads the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health; she was initially hired for the role by Dr. Ashish Jha, who is now the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator. Dr. Nuzzo tells hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter that COVID remains a fairly significant health threat, especially in terms of possible variants, but we’re not in the same situation...

Wednesday, Sept. 28, the Biden-Harris Administration will host the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, the first one in over 50 years. What will the experts and community leaders discuss? How will we reach the goal of ending U.S. hunger and reducing diet-related diseases in a majority of Americans by 2030? “Conversations on Health Care” hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter...

Majority Whip James Clyburn, the third-most powerful Democrat in the U.S. House, makes a passionate case for community health centers. His goal is to get a center within commuting distance of each American. “Every time legislation comes forward on health care I’m always trying to figure out how we can get community health centers to benefit from this legislation…not satisfied with where we are bec...

Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, White House National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator, joins “Conversations on Health Care” to discuss the latest details about this rare, infectious viral disease. Dr. Daskalakis talks with hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter about the spread of the disease in the U.S., the vaccination efforts, and how the entire health care community is careful to avoid stigmati...