Doctors Take the Mic

Your doctor may have a new kind of assistant in the room — and it's not human. In this episode, Dr. Wu breaks down a May 2026 New York Times investigation by Simar Bajaj into the rapid rise of AI scribes, the software tools now recording and transcribing millions of doctor-patient conversations across the U.S. We explore what actually happens to your audio after the appointment ends, who has access to it, what the law does and doesn't require your doctor to tell you, and why these tools are generating errors at a rate that should make every patient pay closer attention to their own medical records. Whether you've already encountered an AI scribe in the exam room or haven't yet, this episode gives you the information you need to protect yourself.

Tick season is already breaking records — and the rules of the outdoors have quietly changed. In this episode, Dr. Wu digs into a May 2026 New York Times report by Maggie Astor revealing that four tick species are now spreading into regions where they've never been before, bringing Lyme disease, a mysterious red meat allergy, and a malaria-like parasite along for the ride. We break down the alarming Hudson Valley data showing that co-infections — one tick carrying multiple diseases simultaneously — have tripled in just eight years, why a standard course of antibiotics may leave one of those infections completely untreated, and exactly what steps you can take before, during, and after time outdoors to protect yourself and your family.

In this episode, Dr. Gloria Wu — lead author of the 2025 UCSF study "Chatbots and Diabetes: Is There Gender Bias?" — brings her research directly to you as both researcher and host. Published in the Journal of Patient Experience, the study tested four leading AI chatbots — ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and DeepSeek — asking each the same question about diabetic vision loss, changing only the patient's gender. The stakes are real: 38.4 million Americans live with diabetes, yet only 19,500 specialists exist to serve them — a gap pushing patients toward AI by default. Dr. Wu walks you through what her team found: all four models communicate at a college reading level, far exceeding the 6th-grade standard recommended for patient education. And each model shows distinct gender-based gaps in the clinical information it provides — with DeepSeek showing the most significant bias against female patients, and the other three models each missing different keywords depending on the patient's gender. Dr. Wu closes with three practical takeaways every patient should know: always cross-check at least two chatbots, ask for plain language, and never treat AI as a substitute for a qualified clinician.

Here's a one-paragraph summary with the AMA citation:

This episode examines Medvi, a telehealth startup founded by Matthew Gallagher that is projected to generate $1.8 billion in revenue in 2026 with just two employees — Gallagher and his brother Elliot — operating out of a house in Los Angeles. Drawing on Erin Griffith's front-page New York Times investigation, the episode traces Gallagher's path from a transient childhood in Cincinnati to building a hyper-efficient AI-powered business by layering automated customer intake and marketing tools on top of existing telehealth infrastructure provided by CareValidate and OpenLoop Health. The discussion covers the mechanics of how the model works, the risks of running a billion-dollar operation as essentially a one-man system (including a now-infamous hike that cost him 200 customers when a routine code update broke checkout), the AI hallucinations that led to costly pricing errors, and the surprising human conclusion: that after optimizing away nearly all friction and overhead to achieve a 16.2% net profit margin — nearly triple that of publicly traded competitor Hims & Hers — Gallagher admits he misses his colleagues and is, in his own words, lonely.

Source:

Griffith E. How A.I. helped one man (and his brother) build a $1.8 billion company. The New York Times. April 2, 2026; Section A:1. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/technology/ai-billion-dollar-company-medvi.html

In this episode, Dr. Gloria Wu discusses a study from the February 2026 issue of the Journal of Ophthalmology Retina that explores the relationship between long-term Metformin use and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in diabetic patients. The research found that patients who took Metformin for five or more consecutive years had a significantly lower risk of developing both dry and wet AMD compared to those who did not take the medication. While the protective effect was strongest after six years of use, even shorter durations showed some benefit, suggesting that Metformin may offer a proactive way for diabetics to safeguard their vision as they age.

Dr. Gloria Wu shares insights from a Men's Health panel, redefining health not just as the absence of illness, but as the "capacity to thrive under pressure" through mental and emotional resilience. She explains how practicing gratitude and celebrating small wins can physically "groove" positive dopamine pathways in the brain, making happiness more permanent. Additionally, she emphasizes the critical role of sleep, noting that it triggers "Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor" (BDNF)—a protein that acts like "miracle grow" to repair brain cells and combat the effects of chronic stress.

In this recording, Dr. Gloria Wu explains how the health of your eyes can actually provide a "window" into the health of your brain. Using a non-invasive eye scan called an OCTA, doctors can spot thinning blood vessels in the retina that may serve as an early warning sign for Alzheimer's disease.

The provided text details significant ethnic disparities in Atrial Fibrillation (AF), noting a clear prevalence gradient with South Asians lowest and Whites highest. It highlights a "South Asian paradox" of low AF despite high cardiovascular risk. Risk factors also differ by ethnicity, such as hypertension driving AF more strongly in Chinese populations, while Pacific Islanders and Native Americans develop AF about 10 years younger than Whites. The document underscores universal treatment disparities for all non-White populations, including critical gaps in anticoagulation—especially among Chinese patients—reduced screening, worse outcomes for Pacific Islanders and Native Americans, and systematic under-representation in research.

Summary:

According to an article by Sy Boles of the Harvard Gazette, Heavy Menstrual Bleeding (HMB) affects many women, but research progress has been slow due to the lack of suitable animal models. Scientists Donald Ingber, founding director of the Wyss Institute, and Judah Folkman, professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School and the Vascular Biology Program at Boston Children's Hospital, are developing an innovative "organ-on-a-chip" technology. This breakthrough has enabled the creation of a human model replicating the uterine wall. By providing a more accurate research platform, their work aims to dramatically accelerate the path from symptom onset to effective treatment. While the current average time from initial symptoms to proper diagnosis and care is around five years, the scientists' organ chip model of the human uterus could potentially reduce that period to a mere five months. If successful, this technology promises to transform the medical landscape and provide faster relief for the millions of women suffering from Heavy Menstrual Bleeding.

Article Citation:

Boles, S. (2025, October 7). HMB is more common than asthma or diabetes, yet often ignored. Harvard Gazette. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/10/a-condition-more-common-than-asthma-or-diabetes-yet-often-ignored/#:~:text=HMB%20is%20more%20common%20than,yet%20often%20ignored%20%E2%80%94%20Harvard%20Gazette

Artificial organs that utilize chip-based technology are not currently available as implantable, fully functional organ replacements in clinical practice. Instead, the field is dominated by "organ-on-a-chip" (OOC) or "organs-on-chips" microfluidic devices, which are advanced in vitro models that recapitulate key aspects of human organ physiology and pathophysiology using living human cells within engineered microenvironments on a chip platform.[1][2][3][4][5] These systems are primarily used for research applications, including disease modeling, drug development, toxicity testing, and personalized medicine. OOC devices have been developed for a variety of organs—such as lung, liver, heart, kidney, and brain—and can be integrated into multi-organ platforms ("body-on-a-chip") to study inter-organ interactions and systemic drug effects.[2][3][4][5] Integration of biosensors for real-time monitoring and the use of human induced pluripotent stem cells are advancing the field toward more physiologically relevant and personalized models.[6][5] Despite rapid technological progress, significant challenges remain before chip-based artificial organs can be used as implantable therapeutic devices. These include issues of vascularization, immune compatibility, long-term viability, and regulatory approval for clinical use.[3][4][7][5] Current regulatory discussions, including those involving the FDA, focus on the use of OOC systems as preclinical testing platforms rather than as direct organ replacements.[5] In summary, chip-based artificial organs are currently limited to sophisticated in vitro models for research and drug development, not as implantable devices for organ replacement in patients.[1][2][3][4][5]

j

1. Organ Chips and Visualization of Biological Systems. Tian T, Liu J, Zhu H. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. 2023;1199:155-183. doi:10.1007/978-981-32-9902-3_8.
2. Organs-on-Chips Technologies - A Guide From Disease Models to Opportunities for Drug Development. Monteduro AG, Rizzato S, Caragnano G, et al. Biosensors & Bioelectronics. 2023;231:115271. doi:10.1016/j.bios.2023.115271.
3. Human Organs-on-Chips for Disease Modelling, Drug Development and Personalized Medicine. Ingber DE. Nature Reviews. Genetics. 2022;23(8):467-491. doi:10.1038/s41576-022-00466-9.
4. Organs-on-Chips: Into the Next Decade. Low LA, Mummery C, Berridge BR, Austin CP, Tagle DA. Nature Reviews. Drug Discovery. 2021;20(5):345-361. doi:10.1038/s41573-020-0079-3.
5. Organ-on-a-Chip Devices: Technology Progress and Challenges. Obeid PJ, Yammine P, El-Nakat H, et al. Chembiochem : A European Journal of Chemical Biology. 2024;25(23):e202400580. doi:10.1002/cbic.202400580.
6. Integrated Technologies for Continuous Monitoring of Organs-on-Chips: Current Challenges and Potential Solutions. Sabaté Del Río J, Ro J, Yoon H, Park TE, Cho YK. Biosensors & Bioelectronics. 2023;224:115057. doi:10.1016/j.bios.2022.115057.
7. Organs-on-a-Chip: A Union of Tissue Engineering and Microfabrication. Zhao Y, Wang EY, Lai FBL, Cheung K, Radisic M. Trends in Biotechnology. 2023;41(3):410-424. doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2022.12.018.

Summary:

In an article by Jacqueline Mitchell of the Harvard Gazette, a study by gastroenterologist Dr. Trisha Pasricha links smartphone use on the toilet to a 46% increased risk of hemorrhoids. Phone users are five times more likely to sit for over five minutes, a habit driven by the phone's distraction rather than constipation or straining. This prolonged sitting is thought to cause vascular cushions to become engorged, leading to symptomatic hemorrhoids. The research updates older findings for the modern era.

Article Citation:

:Mitchell, J. (2025, September 4). Does this cellphone habit raise risk of hemorrhoids?. Harvard Gazette. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/09/does-this-cellphone-habit-raise-risk-of-hemorrhoids/