This Halloween-themed episode of Medicine: The Truth finds hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr confronting the real horrors haunting American medicine today.

When Corr asks what scares him most, Dr. Pearl doesn’t hesitate: it’s the chaos, confusion and politicization that have replaced science and reason. From vaccine policy to drug and insurance pricing to Medicaid cuts, Pearl explains how bad decisions by government and industry leaders are endangering lives.

The conversation begins with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s newly appointed vaccine advisory committee, whose erratic decisions could jeopardize national immunization efforts and patient trust. It moves quickly to Donald Trump’s claim that Tylenol use during pregnancy causes autism. Pearl explains why the claim is biologically implausible, breaks down the real risks of acetaminophen overdose, and warns of the harm caused when political figures replace data with personal belief.

The hosts then turn to Mississippi’s infant mortality crisis, where a lack of OB-GYNs and the state’s refusal to expand Medicaid have pushed death rates to record highs. It’s a chilling illustration, Pearl says, of what happens when ideology trumps compassion.

From there, the episode moves through a series of pressing stories:

As the episode continues, Dr. Pearl highlights grim data on America’s declining health outcomes compared to other wealthy nations, the spread of Chagas disease across U.S. states, and the crushing cost of employer-based insurance. Together, these stories reveal a nation spending more, living shorter and losing faith in its medical institutions. A scary story, indeed.

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of the new book “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine” about the impact of AI on the future of medicine. All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn

The post MTT #99: The frightening state of U.S. medicine as politics replace science appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Season 11 of Fixing Healthcare continues its exploration of medicine’s new voices and rising influencers with an eye-opening conversation about sexuality, vaccinees and misinformation. Today’s guest, originally from rural Texas, joins the show from the other side of the world.

Cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr welcome Dr. Danielle Jones, better known to millions as Mama Doctor Jones. An OB-GYN by training, Jones has built a worldwide following on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, and now brings her perspective from New Zealand, where she lives and practices today.

This season isn’t just about guests with massive online audiences. It’s about what happens when those influencers listen. By engaging directly with millions of patients, they hear first-hand what people are curious about, confused by or struggling with—and then translate those voices back into the larger medical conversation.

This season highlights guests with massive online audiences. But their value isn’t just in reach, it’s in their ability to listen closely to what millions of patients are saying, then translate those insights back into the wider medical conversation.

From the start, Jones makes clear why she’s become a trusted voice for so many.

Her mission isn’t just to provide facts, but to help people distinguish what is real from what is not, a skill that’s more urgent than ever in an era of viral misinformation. Drawing on her roots in rural Texas, Jones describes how she had to unlearn many of the taboos she grew up with before becoming comfortable talking openly about abortion, contraception and sexual health.

Key topics in this conversation:

Tune in for the full interview and join the conversation on social media.

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Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #190: TikTok’s favorite OB-GYN reveals what millions of women really ask their doctors appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In this revealing episode of Unfiltered, cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr sit down with cardiologist Dr. Jonathan Fisher to explore a hidden source of suffering in modern medicine: imposter syndrome.

Together, Pearl and Fisher take a vulnerable and nuanced look at the internal doubts that haunt even the most accomplished clinicians. Drawing on Fisher’s research and personal experience, the pair examine how imposter syndrome takes root during medical training and grows amid hierarchical workplaces, unrealistic expectations and a culture of stoicism. Left unaddressed, it can lead to shame, fear and isolation —emotions that rarely surface in traditional conversations about burnout.

Throughout the episode, Fisher and Pearl describe the difference between healthy humility and harmful self-doubt. They consider how training environments, competitive mindsets and systemic pressures may perpetuate imposter feelings. They also reflect on how leaders and organizations can help create psychological safety by sharing personal struggles, reframing failure and building community.

More than a psychological phenomenon, imposter syndrome offers a lens through which to understand the broader crisis of physician wellbeing. As Dr. Fisher notes, combating it starts with telling the truth and making space for others to do the same.

For more unfiltered conversation, listen to the full episode and explore these related resources:

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Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #189: Diving deep into imposter syndrome in medicine appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In this Diving Deep episode of Fixing Healthcare, cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr explore two urgent shifts reshaping the patient-doctor relationship in American medicine.

First, they tackle a generational divide that’s growing wider by the year. Gen Z and Millennial patients (now 40% of healthcare consumers), are increasingly turning away from traditional medical providers. Distrust in institutions, a preference for shared decision-making and frustration with outdated communication methods are driving these younger patients to seek answers elsewhere.

Pearl outlines what physicians must do to bridge the gap. Listen more, collaborate often and meet younger patients where they are: digitally, flexibly and with empathy. If doctors don’t evolve, patients will look elsewhere.

And increasingly, “elsewhere” means artificial intelligence. That leads to the second half of the episode, where Pearl maps out a new reality: for the first time in history, patients can climb the ladder of medical expertise with help from GenAI. Large language models like ChatGPT and Claude are enabling patients to move beyond awareness and application into true analysis, synthesis and even innovation.

Pearl explores what this means for clinical care. Will patients one day use GenAI to monitor chronic conditions like diabetes or asthma on their own? Could AI triage symptoms, suggest follow-ups or even nudge lifestyle changes more effectively than a rushed primary care visit?

These questions are no longer theoretical. As Pearl warns, clinicians must either guide the change or risk being sidelined by it.

HELPFUL LINKS

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine.” All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #188: Why younger patients turn away from doctors & toward GenAI appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In this episode of Medicine: The Truth, Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr dig into growing public distrust in the two government agencies charged with protecting Americans’ health: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Recent shakeups, including the resignation of top leaders and staff reductions, highlight just how politicized these organizations have become. Pearl doesn’t mince words. He calls the situation “chaotic and unscientific,” warning that the politicization of vaccine policy under the Kennedy administration could undermine decades of scientific progress and further erode public trust in medical guidance.

He walks listeners through what changed, why it matters and what might happen next—including how states and medical societies are beginning to defy federal policy by issuing their own vaccine recommendations.

Other key topics discussed:

Tune in to hear Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr cut through the noise with their signature mix of clarity, candor and evidence-based analysis. Once again, the duo exposes misinformation, challenges political spin and helps listeners make sense of what’s really going on.

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of the new book “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine” about the impact of AI on the future of medicine. All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn

The post MTT #98: Can patients and doctors still trust the CDC, FDA? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In this candid episode of Unfiltered, cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr sit down with cardiologist Dr. Jonathan Fisher to examine why so many clinicians feel trapped between rising bureaucracy and shrinking autonomy.

Together, they detail what it will take to build a system that serves both patients and physicians. Drawing on Fisher’s experiences in small private practice and in a large health system, the trio explores RVUs and metric overload, private equity’s growing footprint and the treadmill effect driving burnout.

They then turn to solutions: team-based care, capitation/value-based models and new primary-care designs (from direct primary care to micro-IPAs). In the second half of the episode, the conversation widens from lifespan and health span to “joy span,” arguing for practical, low-cost ways to strengthen social connection, meaning and wellbeing without overburdening clinicians.

Later, a listener question prompts a timely discussion of Gen Z and younger millennials who avoid traditional primary care, and how medicine must adapt communication, access and expectations to meet people where they are.

For more unfiltered conversation, listen to the full episode and explore these related resources:

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Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #187: Autonomy, burnout & the future of medical care appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

FHC #186: From rare diseases to rural America, Optum’s CEO talks healthcare’s future

In this special return to Season 10, which focused on transformative technologies in medicine, Fixing Healthcare hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr interview Dr. Patrick Conway, CEO of Optum, a $250 billion division of UnitedHealth Group. A pediatrician and former CMS leader, Dr. Conway has spent his career driving innovation at the intersection of medicine, policy and business.

Conway argues that healthcare stands on the brink of a transformation driven by artificial intelligence, breakthrough therapies, prevention strategies and big data analytics. As CEO of Optum (one of the most influential players in U.S. medicine, employing over 310,000 people worldwide), Conway explains how his organization is using technology and integration to improve quality, lower costs and expand equity.

Here are five key insights from the episode:

After the interview, Dr. Pearl tells Corr that he was struck by the Optum CEO’s optimism about generative AI and its role in reshaping healthcare, noting that Conway sees beyond administrative savings to its potential for improving clinical outcomes and managing chronic disease. Pearl noted Conway’s clear commitment to capitation and value-based care; what Pearl called his “North Star.” Pearl concluded that Conway is a mission-driven leader, highly capable of pushing UnitedHealth Group to accelerate change, and urged him to move faster than feels comfortable in scaling prevention, AI and integrated care.

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Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #186: Optum CEO on AI, big data & preventing disease appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In this Diving Deep episode of Fixing Healthcare, cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr tackle two timely topics shaping the future of American medicine.

First, the pair explore a growing concern among health policy experts and clinicians alike: Is the U.S. medical system headed for economic collapse? Dr. Pearl outlines three troubling trends in support of this concern. Ballooning healthcare costs, an unsustainable rise in medical employment (without associated gains in quality), and the accelerating burnout and exit of practicing physicians. Together, these forces threaten to push American healthcare off a cliff.

More alarming still, the traditional “exit ramps” that once helped the system avoid disaster — federal borrowing, employer cost-shifting and physician overwork — are rapidly disappearing. With options dwindling, Pearl and Corr consider what comes next: Will private equity lead a wave of cost-cutting? Will crisis force rationing? Or could new technology offer a better way forward?

That question sets the stage for part two of the episode: a deep dive into generative AI’s future in medicine. Pearl describes two emerging paths: one led by tech startups developing FDA-approved tools to manage disease, and another championed by physicians who teach patients how to use existing large language models for self-care and symptom triage. Both models aim to reduce costs and improve outcomes. But each comes with tradeoffs.

Throughout the episode, Pearl encourages clinicians to lead (not follow) the adoption of GenAI. Whether American healthcare descends into austerity or rises toward innovation, the decisions made now will shape the system’s trajectory for decades to come.

HELPFUL LINKS

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine.” All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #185: A System in crisis, a technology in waiting appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In this episode of Medicine: The Truth, Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr cover a whirlwind of headlines, from a White House push to tie U.S. drug prices to wealthy-nation benchmarks (with tariff threats) to a Big Tech pledge to make medical records truly interoperable. They also unpack what ACA exchange enrollees should expect in 2026 as cost-sharing subsidies teeter and insurers file double-digit premium hikes.

On care delivery, the hosts examine the direct primary care + HSA shift: what it could improve, and where it might widen disparities. They then turn to the FDA’s accelerated approvals, gene-therapy turmoil and why scientific independence matters.

Other key topics discussed:

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of the new book “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine” about the impact of AI on the future of medicine. All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn

The post MTT #97: Drug prices, Big Tech EHR promises & the 7,000-step surprise appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In the first episode of Fixing Healthcare’s 11th season, cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr speak with Dr. Uché Blackstock, an emergency physician, bestselling author and health equity expert.

This season turns the spotlight on voices from social media, offering insights into what patients actually want from the U.S. healthcare system. Dr. Blackstock (whose online following is both massive and deeply engaged) shares the concerns she hears most often: fears about rising insurance premiums, confusion around preventive screenings and frustration with a system that feels inaccessible, dismissive or even dangerous for many women and people of color.

Dr. Blackstock is the founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity and author of Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine, a memoir that blends personal history with data and policy analysis. In her conversation with Dr. Pearl and Jeremy Corr, she highlights several ways the U.S. healthcare system must change to better serve all patients:

Bridging The Access Gap

Rebuilding Trust

Rethinking The System Itself

Throughout the episode, the conversation returns to a central question: What does it mean to be seen, heard and cared for in today’s healthcare system. And how can we ensure everyone receives that kind of care?

Tune in for the full interview and join the conversation on social media.

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Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #184: Dr. Uché Blackstock on racism, sexism and fixing medicine appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.