Straight Talk MD

COVID has returned with a vengeance. Dr. Paul Offit is back in the virtual studio for a COVID-19 update. We discuss the vaccine, new anti-viral therapeutics, herd immunity, the Barrington Declaration, and how to avoid another complete shutdown.

On the eve of the election, I perform a post-mortem on the second Presidential debate, and compile closing arguments from Joe Biden and Donald Trump discussing their healthcare plans, the COVID-19 response, and the pandemic looking forward. This is the final episode of the Healthcare 2020 Series.

The post-mortem on the Harris v. Pence debate is here! Mike Pence defends his COVID-19 record, the White House Super Spreader Event, and dodges questions on the Trump healthcare replacement plan. Before November 3rd, tune in for the full analysis of the candidates' claims, with fact checking, and the crucial backstory that the candidates left out.

In the third episode of our Healthcare 2020 series, I perform a post-mortem on the first Biden-Trump debate, the "worst Presidential Debate ever," on all healthcare-related issues. I present the clips, the commentary, and the analysis of what the candidates said, and failed to say. I also fact-check each candidate's claims, their misstatements, and their comments on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ron Howrigon is back in the virtual studio to analyze Donald Trump's 4200-word "doctrine" for a new healthcare system, created by Presidential Executive Orders [his words, not ours.] We also look at Biden's "Strive for Five" healthcare tweaks to Obamacare and beyond. Lastly, we discuss how both candidates may have to modify their healthcare platforms based on the fate of Obamacare in the Supreme C...

Just five weeks out from the Presidential election, there are more questions than answers about both Presidential candidates' healthcare plans. In this series, we examine each candidate's plan to reform healthcare, and how it will impact the rest of us. In this episode, we take a look back at how we got here, and get a glimpse of where we're headed.

In our haste to get a surgery started, sometimes we do things we shouldn't do. Other times, we don't do the things we should do. In the operating room, either error can have serious consequences. Today's episode is about the real life consequences of skipping a single, seemingly insignificant, step in safety procedures.

Medical Reversal happens when doctors start using a medication, a procedure, or a diagnostic tool without solid evidence that it's effective. Then, after finding out the medication, procedure, or diagnostic tool doesn't work or even harms the patient, they eventually stop using it. Today, I interview Dr. Adam Cifu, author of the highly acclaimed book "Ending Medical Reversal: Improving Outcomes, S...

With the COVID-19 shutdown leading to over 10% unemployment and adding 2 trillion dollars to the national debt (from the "stimulus package"), the U.S. has entered "uncharted economic waters." No major country in the world has ever been this upside down on debt-to-income ratio. All metrics point to a fiscal disaster much larger than the 2008 mortgage crisis, and substantially worse than the "Great...

The most cynical surgeons describe anesthesiology as 99% boredom, and 1% sheer terror. Crepitus is about the 1%. In this true story, a 57-year-old woman is administered general anesthesia for a "routine" knee arthroscopy, and the case rapidly devolved into the 1%. How can a routine knee arthroscopy go so wrong? In about a million and a half different ways. This is one of them. Crepitus was origina...

Cynical surgeons describe anesthesiology as 99% boredom, and 1% scared shitless. "Wrong Assumptions" is about the 1%. In this true story, a healthy, 37-year-old woman enters the hospital to deliver her third baby under epidural anesthesia. In the operating room following delivery, she suddenly slips into a coma for no apparent reason. How can a routine case go so wrong? In about a million and a ha...

The COVID-19 lockdown is being described by some as the largest uncontrolled social science experiment ever conducted. What are the mental health consequences of this real world experiment? Today, Dr. Anna Lembke is back in the virtual studio to help separate fact from fiction when it comes to the adverse mental health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Christine Doyle, the Immediate Past President of the California Society of Anesthesiologists, is trained in both anesthesiology and critical care medicine. Both specialties are rated "very high risk" for exposure to COVID by both the CDC and OSHA. Today, we explore a variety of safety issues and experiences from the front lines of our operating rooms and intensive care units.

Paul Offit is back in the virtual studio to give the latest update on COVID-19. We discuss several potential game changers in testing and treatment, and an update on Operation Warp Speed, the quest in search of an effective vaccine. We also discuss the much debated return to school, reopening our communities, and the possibility for a return to life as we knew it... Can it be done safely? And if s...

In Part III of Overcoming Addiction with bioethicist Greg Pence, we wrap up a discussion of the seven different models of addiction in search of the cause - and cure - for drug and alcohol addiction. In the final episode of this series, Greg discusses the best aspects of each model, the corrupt rehab industry, and shares some optimism for those impacted by drug and alcohol addiction.

150,000 deaths per year in the U.S. from drug/alcohol overdose, or suicide by overdose is worthy of attention. As alcohol and drug addiction are on the rise in COVID World, it's time to revisit the forgotten epidemic: drug and alcohol addiction. In Part II of our series, Greg Pence discusses seven different models of addiction in search of the cause- and the cure- for drug and alcohol addiction.

Alcohol and drug use are on the rise in COVID World, but in contrast to the coronavirus, there will be no vaccine for drug and alcohol addiction. When the lockdown is over, drug and alcohol misuse is likely to be worse than ever. It's time to revisit our forgotten epidemic: drug and alcohol addiction. Greg Pence discusses seven different models of addiction in search of the explanation— and the cu...

There's abundant evidence of a concerted effort by the Chinese dissembling machine to conceal what was really going on in Wuhan since the last week of December 2019. They took active measures to suppress and destroy the overwhelming evidence that SARS Coronavirus-2, a.k.a. COVID-19, was rapidly spreading from human-to-human in Wuhan for almost a month before they finally acknowledged it to the wor...

Dr. Paul Offit is an infectious disease expert, virologist, and the author of seven medical narratives. Today we discuss Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes Too Far. Definitely worth a listen.

Knowing how a pandemic started is the key to stopping the next one. A novel bat coronavirus first appears in Wuhan, China in late November of 2019.  This family of coronaviruses normally reside in bats living in caves 1000 miles south of Wuhan. Understanding where the virus came from and how it entered the human reservoir will help prevent a similar pandemic in the future.  No matter what you may...

The worldwide spread of COVID-19 is being called the "pandemic of the century" by some. Others are watching the debacle unfold can only wonder if the response to the COVID-19 pandemic will someday be called "the fiasco of the century." The 24/7 news channels have created worldwide mass hysteria by reporting events from a sensationalist point of view without giving appropriate context. Civilians ar...

In Wuhan China and later Italy, the healthcare system was rapidly overrun with critically ill patients and insufficient resources to save them all. When the population's health needs vastly exceeded the system's capacity, "utilitarian ethics" quickly replaced normal medical ethics; disaster standards of care replaced normal standards of care. Ventilators and drugs in short supply were allocated on...

Dr. Paul Offit is a virologist and infectious disease specialist from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. We discuss the COVID surge in NY, immunity testing, the coming surge in California, the safest/best timing to lift the national quarantine, and much more.

As we enter the logarithmic phase of the U.S. COVID-19 epidemic, the Coronavirus Pandemic just got very real. Today we discuss the Federal government's preparedness for this pandemic, protective gear shortages for healthcare workers on the front lines [especially N-95 masks], chloroquin, Remdesivir update, ongoing failures of testing, and much, much more. Today, Dr. Paul Offit assesses the arc we'...

The worldwide coronavirus pandemic of fear is escalating rapidly. In an attempt to avoid the spread of COVID-19 and a public health disaster "like no other," life as we know it in the U.S. has come to a grinding halt. Today, world renowned virologist and infectious disease specialist, Paul Offit, talks about the draconian measures being taken in the U.S. to avoid repeating the Italian experience w...