Episodes

In this episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, Jeremy Corr and Dr. Robert Pearl dive deep into the ever-thickening plotline around booster shots. Drug companies like Pfizer are pushing for them. Government agencies like the CDC and FDA are pushing back. Some critics say drug companies are acting out of greed and not in the interest of the public. Others are turning to the data for answers, noting that new variants and uncertainty around antibodies should drive the discussion. Tune in for more on t...

“How worried should people be about the Delta variant?” asked one listener of Coronavirus: The Truth. The answer: Very. “Data published online this week shows the Delta variant spreads 225% faster than the original coronavirus,” said cohost Dr. Robert Pearl in this episode, adding that there are approximately 1,000 times more copies of this coronavirus strain in the respiratory tracts of infected people. What’s more, those infected with the Delta variant tend to become infectious far earlier in...

This episode kicks off season 6 of the Fixing Healthcare podcast and, this time around, cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr are flipping the show’s format on its head. Instead of asking each guest for a comprehensive plan to fix the entire healthcare system (a la ZDoggMD, Eric Topol and Don Berwick in season 1), Pearl and Corr are going vertical and deep—searching for solutions from those who represent the system’s various parts. Season 6 will feature people who lead and represent doctors...

A close look at data from 2.9 million households revealed something bizarre about birthdays. Results of a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine indicated a 31% higher frequency of Covid-19 infection within two weeks of a birthday between January and November of 2020. Those celebrating a child’s birthday were at the highest risk of all. What does the data mean about the dangers of informal gatherings with children present? The answer to this and the following questions in this episode of Cor...

As the pandemic winds down, scientists and pollsters are looking closer at public health decisions in hindsight. A new Axios-Ipsos poll looked into whether masking and social distancing actually saved lives. Relying on self-reported data, the poll results showed that respondents who never wore a mask were twice as likely to get COVID-19 as those who wore masks all the time. Meanwhile, only 10% of people who always kept a six-foot distance from others tested positive whereas 26% of people never ...

The first four seasons of the Fixing Healthcare podcast focused on how to fix the U.S. healthcare system—its perverse payment model, clunky computer systems and regulatory dysfunctions. However, contrary to what most people believe, fixing the system won’t be enough to solve healthcare’s biggest problems. We must also address the invisible and highly influential culture of medicine, which is rooted in the norms and values doctors learn in medical school and carry throughout their careers. Cult...

Several recent news stories have revived the debate over whether the novel coronavirus was first transmitted from a bat to a human via a wet market in Wuhan, China, or whether its origins can be traced to the Wuhan Institute of Virology as a result of a laboratory error. A U.S. intelligence report found that three researchers at the institute were sick enough in November 2019 to require hospital care—meaning they had symptoms consist with Covid-19 a full month before the first case was official...

Dr. Anthony Fauci recently called for schools to reopen “full blast,” with in-person classes five days a week. Meanwhile, CDC officials said that schools should resume in-person learning as soon as possible *if* social distancing and masks are properly enforced. When it comes to this pandemic, it’s always risky trying to predict what public health guidance will look like four months into the future. But a “more normal school experience” seems likely, according to Fixing Healthcare co-host Dr. R...

Marty Makary, a nationally renowned surgeon and educator at Johns Hopkins, goes about life as if having ingested a truth serum for which there is no antidote. Hear him speak or read his writing, and you’ll find no punches pulled. On Fox News, where he’s a regular commentator, Makary was openly critical of the CDC’s double-masking recommendation, calling it “mostly a show.” And in a WSJ article published in February 2021, he claimed the U.S. would achieve herd immunity by April, arguing that exp...

Co-host Dr. Pearl spoke with several critical care physicians in a recent Forbes article. One of those doctors described waking up regularly before sunrise, covered in sweat. Another seasoned physician said he had four patients die in a single day from Covid-19—more patients than he’d ever lost in a month. A resident explained that he started his ICU rotation with six Covid-19 patients. All were dead by the end of the month. According to a national KFF/Washington Post poll, a majority of health...

The FDA has recommended a temporary pause of the J&J vaccine until scientists can sort out what’s causing a rare (and, in one case, fatal) blood clot in a six women who received the vaccine. Recently, a CDC advisory panel opted to delay its vote on the safety of the J&J vaccine, needing more data and information before rendering its verdict. In this episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, Jeremy Corr and Dr. Robert Pearl look deeper at the scientific details, facts, and next steps concerning the J&J...

Alison Hadden is a lifelong athlete, an adventurer and was, by age 38, a marketing executive at three different billion-dollar tech companies. But in 2018, Alison says “life burst through the door.” She was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. Three years later, she is grappling with a terminal diagnosis. Neither Alison nor her doctors are certain how much time she has left. And yet, Alison often finds herself waiting and waiting … and waiting on the people who provide her medical care. Afte...

As vaccines get rolled out to younger and younger Americans, parents have questions and are raising serious concerns. Polls show just half of U.S. parents plan to get their children vaccinated for COVID-19 as soon as they can, according to the latest Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index. But what does the science say about vaccinating children? The efficacy data look promising. Pfizer recently announced its vaccine is 100% effective in protecting against Covid-19 infection in children ages 12-15. The ...

On Forbes, Dr. Robert Pearl wrote about his recent trip from San Diego to New York, which he referred to as the “Covid-19 Flight From Hell.” The article has been read by hundreds of thousands of people, most of whom were horrified by Pearl’s experience with the infected passenger and curious about what (if anything) the airline industry had to say for itself. In this episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, Jeremy Corr and Dr. Pearl discuss flying in the waning months of the Covid-19 era and whether...

Dr. Jen Gunter is known by many titles. She’s been called Twitter’s resident gynecologist, the Internet’s OB-GYN, and medicine’s fiercest advocate for women’s health. In her writing for The New York Times (and in her bestselling book The Vagina Bible), Gunter has gone after some of the nation’s most powerful players. “I’ve taken on politicians, I’ve taken on the wellness industrial complex, and most recently, Vagisil, and they’re awful campaign to make teens embarrassed about their normal body ...

Moderna, Pfizer and now Johnson & Johnson have emerged as surprising heroes of the Covid-19 pandemic—pulling our nation out of this pandemic one vaccine shot at a time. This week, however, co-host Jeremy Corr raised a thought-provoking question: Why aren’t generic drug makers getting involved to help speed up vaccine production and end this pandemic faster? Do name-brand drug companies have any obligation to hand over their patents to generic drug manufacturers? Would it make a difference if th...

A respected doctor recently published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal predicting, “We’ll have herd immunity by April.” Many other respected doctors took to social media to contradict him, arguing it’s too early to claim victory over the disease. For months now, co-hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr have been closely monitoring the debate and data surrounding our nation’s immunity status. If one thing’s clear, it’s that nothing is clear. The scientific community seems split right down th...

When the producers of Fox first reached out to Dr. Lisa Sanders with the idea of turning her New York Times column into a TV show called House, she was intrigued. “Tell me how that’s going to work,” she said, “I mean, what’s the show about?” One of the executive producers replied, “Well, it’s about an irritable, arrogant and drug addicted doctor who hates patients and loves diagnosis.” Dr. Sanders recalls thinking, “Who would watch such a show?” The answer, it turned out, was billions of peop...

A listener of this show wrote in with a question about her ongoing coronavirus symptoms. A month after testing positive, she’s still not back to feeling like herself. According to the data, she’s not alone. All across the country, there are millions of these so-called “long-haulers,” and the actual number of people who fall into this category might be even larger than we initial thought. Patients who continue to experience Covid-19 symptoms talk about “brain fog,” difficulty sleeping, ongoing e...

Variants (or mutant strains) of the coronavirus have popped up in the U.K., South Africa and Brazil. These strains are highly transmissible, sparking concerns that the variants could be more lethal and that current vaccines may be less effective against them. Perhaps most concerning is the question of if (or when) these variants will wreak havoc in the United States, where hospitals are still reeling from unsafe gatherings during the winter holidays. In this episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, ...

American doctors have it rough these days. Not only are they fighting to keep Covid-19 patients alive as hospitalizations surge, but they are also struggling to navigate the ever-changing and increasingly complex world around them. This generation’s doctors are not just dealing with medical issues, but with the health consequences of societal issues, as well. From gun violence and climate change to economic disparities and racial inequalities, the difficulties patients face in their communities...

In a Northern California hospital, a freezer containing over 800 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine suddenly broke down. Local leaders realized they had less than two hours to administer the shots before the entire batch went bad. Administrators and staff sprang into action and, according to CNN, didn’t waste a drop of the vaccine. How then do we explain the excruciatingly slow rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine so far, with only 7 million of the 22 million available shots given out? Americans are unde...

It has been a busy two weeks for news outlets covering the coronavirus pandemic. The holidays brought a surge in new cases and deaths. A coronavirus mutation was reported in England. Reports of allergic reactions to the vaccine have also surfaced. There’s news on at-home testing kits and there’s a new coronavirus relief package that has been signed by the president. In this episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, Jeremy Corr and Dr. Robert Pearl discuss these events and answer listener questions. H...

On Friday, the FDA authorized Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. The announcement marked a major milestone in the fight against the coronavirus. Still, there’s a lot left to be sorted out in the months ahead. In this episode of Coronavirus: The Truth, Jeremy Corr and Dr. Robert Pearl answer listener questions about the vaccine and the decisions that will define the pandemic in 2021. Here’s what was discussed [and when] on this episode: [00:48] What was the biggest news concerning the coronavirus this...