July 11th, 2015
Podcast 179: Pradaxa (dabigatran) reversal near?
Running time: 20 minutes The anticoagulant dabigatran, marketed in the U.S. as Pradaxa, has always had the problem that, although it’s more convenient to use, there’s no sure way to stop its effect if the patient has a major bleed. Now, a monoclonal antibody fragment called idarucizumab (pronounced i-DARE-you-scis-ooh-mab) shows promise as a reversal agent. In an […]
July 4th, 2015
Podcast 178: Why Should Clinicians’ Complicity in CIA Torture Matter to You?
Dr. Scott Allen of Physicians for Human Rights talks about the lessons evident in the complicity of clinicians — physicians, PAs, and psychologists at the very least — in the torture of prisoners. His group published an analysis under the title “Doing Harm: Health professionals’ central role in the CIA torture program,” and that’s the focus […]
June 12th, 2015
Podcast 176: HPV Vaccine — How many doses are needed to confer protection?
Running time: 19 minutes We talk with Dr. Cosette Wheeler about a new Lancet Oncology paper that offers follow-up on two major trials of HPV-16/18 vaccines. The analysis adds more data to the suspicion that although three doses of vaccine are optimal, two or even one may offer substantial protection. Wheeler is very cautious on this point, […]
June 3rd, 2015
Podcast 175: “Understanding Value-Based Healthcare” — A Discussion with the Authors of an Important New Book
Running time: 26 minutes “Understanding Value-Based Healthcare,” published in April by McGraw-Hill is today’s focus. Drs. Christopher Moriates, of the University of California, San Francisco; Vineet Arora, of the University of Chicago; and Neel Shah of Harvard Medical — the book’s authors — discuss its straightforward approach to valuing patient outcomes foremost. The discussion ranges over their reasons […]
September 9th, 2014
Podcast 174: PARADIGM and Heart Failure
The PARADIGM-HF trial of LCZ696 — a novel compound that both blocks the renin-angiotensin system with an ARB component and blocks neprilysin’s degradation of natriuretic peptides — increased survival in heart failure by some 20% relative to enalapril. It seems to be a big deal, and the trial’s two principal authors have agreed to talk […]
August 29th, 2014
Podcast 173: Sensible Sodium Levels in View at Last
Running time: 9 minutes In the light of the New England Journal of Medicine‘s recent publication three papers on sodium intake and its implications for cardiovascular disease, blood pressure, and excess mortality, we thought we’d speak again with Dr. Jan Staessen, who surprised a lot of people 3 years ago with a paper in JAMA warning […]
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