Second Opinion

By KCRW

What's Second Opinion about?

An examination of medical ethics and the practitioners who define them. Sign up to receive the Second Opinion topics in newsletter form at kcrw.com/newsletters .

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Second Opinion episodes:

06.19.2022
Disappointment
If we are not careful, disappointment can have devastating long-term consequences.
06.12.2022
A new kind of first responder
To reduce over utilization of emergency responders, fire departments are experimenting with a new, more comprehensive approach to home visits.
06.05.2022
The Black Box Around Determining Physician Fees
Determining the fees physicians get paid is anything but transparent and only serves to drive up health care costs.
05.29.2022
Sharing information against a family’s wish
Conflicts arise when a family does not wish to tell a sick person their diagnosis.
05.22.2022
The heavy use of antidepressants in women
Women are the dominant users of antidepressants and there are many possible reasons why.
05.15.2022
Friday the 13th
Superstitions impact many aspects of our lives, but they can have a profound effect in health care.
05.08.2022
The importance of non-emergency transportation in health care
Not traditionally considered a part of health care, transportation plays an oversized role in the management of chronic disease.
05.01.2022
A One Health approach to tick borne diseases
Veterinarians and Human health providers often deal similar diseases and that would stand a better chance of treatment with improved communication between the two professions.
04.24.2022
Why do we still use the ineffective drug ivermectin for COVID-19?
Armed with good science that shows the drug is ineffective and dangerous people are still using it and often skipping their vaccines that are proven safe and effective. Go figure.
04.17.2022
Messages to reach the heart and mind
Health messages are often ignored or easily forgotten. Enter a novel approach using Hip Hop Music.
04.10.2022
What do hospital rankings really tell us?
Hospital rankings use metrics that just aren’t very relevant to most of us.
04.03.2022
Challenging cholesterol statin use
Skeptics are a bit like the grains of sand in an oyster.
03.27.2022
Those with intellectual disabilities
Special Olympics is working to protect those inside Ukraine and those fleeing to neighboring countries.
03.20.2022
The care of animals in times of war
Human are of paramount importance, but the health of animals is important as a part of human health.
03.13.2022
The power of the health lobby
The most powerful lobbying groups rarely have our best interests at heart.
03.06.2022
A re-emergence of polio
Just as we were on the cusp of eradicating polio from the globe we have a new outbreak.
02.27.2022
The impact of a changing mental health diagnosis
The name of a disease often has greater implications than the disease itself.
02.20.2022
Learning and Practicing Medicine on Real Patients
Despite lots of advances in simulation, at some point trainees still need to learn on sick patients.
02.13.2022
Psilocybin: a treatment for depression
A new treatment with some unusual effects we need to understand before we agree to treatment.
02.06.2022
Medical prior authorizations for drugs and devices
Medical prior authorizations are intended to deter prescribing and save insurance companies money. Their real impact is to decrease the quality of care for people with chronic diseases.
01.30.2022
Orphan drugs to treat rare disease
Orphan drugs are often exceedingly expensive which beg the question of how much should we pay for a drug and how do we measure effectiveness?
01.23.2022
Can the treatment of serious mental illness be futile?
Can we reach a point when there is nothing left to offer a person with serious mental illness? Can they refuse treatment at this point?
01.16.2022
Health Disparities for those with disabilities
For too long those with disabilities have had poorer health outcomes.
01.09.2022
Do friends influence our body weight?
Weight loss is never easy, but is it easier to do together than alone?
01.02.2022
The science behind setting goals
Choosing wisely and setting milestones optimizes our chance of success.
12.26.2021
Missing signs of elder abuse
It is often easy to miss the signs of elder abuse which can be insidious and deadly.
12.19.2021
Political promotion of a medicine can be powerful
New research shows that the use of hydroxychloroquine for covid treatment was widespread and did not impact all populations equally.
12.12.2021
What is low value health care?
If we can reliably designate some care as “low value”, then why do we still offer those treatments?
12.05.2021
Informing relatives at risk of genetic disease
Who owns a patients’ test results and does the health provider have a duty to warn at risk relatives?
11.28.2021
How do we know if a drug works?
Why aren’t patients given useful information on the effectiveness of medications?
11.21.2021
Sex difference in surgical referrals
Female surgeons with similar experience and skill get fewer referrals than comparably trained male surgeons.
11.14.2021
Written words matter
When people read doctor’s note they can feel offended and disrespected.
11.07.2021
When to stop antidepressants?
Its easy to start antidepressants but when is a good time to stop taking them?
10.31.2021
Back scratching: Medicine and drug companies
The relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and the medical profession is unhealthy and it impacts us all.
10.24.2021
Daily aspirin to prevent heart attacks
Why did it take so long to change the recommendations about the preventive effects of aspirin?
10.17.2021
The fallacy of Kubler-Ross stages of dying
Grieving is important and complex; there is no one “right way” to do it.
10.10.2021
Pregnancy, mental health, and more
Pregnancy poses unique mental health challenges that we need to address urgently.
10.03.2021
A new twist for cigarette related disease
Making profits from creating a disease and then making more profit from treating the same disease.
09.26.2021
Dairy products and health
A close look at the health benefits of dairy products suggests the recommended 3 glasses of milk a day may not be a healthy choice.
09.19.2021
Practicing What You Preach
How is advice to loose weight received from a clinician who is themselves overweight?
09.12.2021
Lessons from 9-11
We have learned some important lessons about caring for people from 9-11 we can apply to those impacted by COVID.
09.05.2021
Robots in surgery
At this point, surgical robots are not all they are cracked up to be.
08.29.2021
Defensive Medicine
Defensive medicine add costs but not value to clinical care.
08.22.2021
Using the MRI to evaluate common back pain
While the MRI can be enormously useful for a small number of people with back pain, when overused for common back pain it can lead to some serious problems.
08.15.2021
The Legacy of Albert Bandura
Bandura, one of the top five psychologists of all time challenged our approach to learning and changing human behavior.
08.08.2021
Treating loneliness
Loneliness is everywhere and seems to be growing more common. The treatment isn’t medication but social connections.
08.01.2021
After a diagnosis of lung cancer
Are there benefits of stopping smoking once diagnosed with lung cancer?
07.25.2021
Do people have an ethical right to have cosmetic surgery?
Government insurance is provided to people for medically necessary care. But, when care is not necessary should it still be provided as a benefit?
07.18.2021
Refugee Mental Health
Refugees are at high risk for all the stress of changing cultures while being without their usual supports. A bit of prevention may ease their integration into American society.
07.11.2021
We need more training slots for medical residents
But, in creating new slots we need to grow health care delivery in places where the need is greatest and the trainees will have the greatest impact on improving the community’s health.

What's Second Opinion about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Second Opinion episodes:

Disappointment

A new kind of first responder

The Black Box Around Determining Physician Fees

Sharing information against a family’s wish

The heavy use of antidepressants in women

Friday the 13th

The importance of non-emergency transportation in health care

A One Health approach to tick borne diseases

Why do we still use the ineffective drug ivermectin for COVID-19?

Messages to reach the heart and mind

What do hospital rankings really tell us?

Challenging cholesterol statin use

Those with intellectual disabilities

The care of animals in times of war

The power of the health lobby

A re-emergence of polio

The impact of a changing mental health diagnosis

Learning and Practicing Medicine on Real Patients

Psilocybin: a treatment for depression

Medical prior authorizations for drugs and devices

Orphan drugs to treat rare disease

Can the treatment of serious mental illness be futile?

Health Disparities for those with disabilities

Do friends influence our body weight?

The science behind setting goals

Missing signs of elder abuse

Political promotion of a medicine can be powerful

What is low value health care?

Informing relatives at risk of genetic disease

How do we know if a drug works?

Sex difference in surgical referrals

Written words matter

When to stop antidepressants?

Back scratching: Medicine and drug companies

Daily aspirin to prevent heart attacks

The fallacy of Kubler-Ross stages of dying

Pregnancy, mental health, and more

A new twist for cigarette related disease

Dairy products and health

Practicing What You Preach

Lessons from 9-11

Robots in surgery

Defensive Medicine

Using the MRI to evaluate common back pain

The Legacy of Albert Bandura

Treating loneliness

After a diagnosis of lung cancer

Do people have an ethical right to have cosmetic surgery?

Refugee Mental Health

We need more training slots for medical residents