Podcast appearances and mentions of bernard lown

An elderly physician and Nobel Peace Prize-winner, Bernard Lown, pleads for a revolution in health care that would place greater emphasis on personal interaction between doctor and patient. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

Michael J. Hession, MD, is a distinguished graduate of Boston College High School, Boston College, and Dartmouth Medical School, where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. His journey to becoming a physician is marked by resilience and deep empathy, shaped not only by academic achievements but also by profound personal experiences. Enduring two near-death encounters and health challenges, he emerged with a profound understanding of human frailty, enriching his medical practice with unique empathy. Recognized for his expertise and commitment to excellence, Michael is a Fellow of both the American College of Medicine and the American College of Cardiology. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency at University Hospital (Boston Medical Center) and further specialized in cardiovascular medicine during his fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital under the mentorship of Bernard Lown, MD. As Chief Medical Officer at Brigham Health Harbor Medical, Michael's impact extends beyond administrative roles. He serves as an attending physician at South Shore Hospital and as a consulting physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA. Additionally, his contributions to medical education are notable. He has held academic appointments as a Clinical Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at Tufts Medical School. Michael's dedication and expertise have earned him widespread recognition, being honored eight times in Boston Magazine's Top Doctors annual edition. Beyond his professional endeavors, Michael finds joy in sharing life's adventures with his wife of 40 years, Colleen, on Cape Cod, MA. Together, they cherish moments boating on Nantucket Sound, indulging in their love for reading—especially history—and eagerly exploring the world through travel, seeking out the most exotic destinations.https://www.acknowledgeacceptadapt.com/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/i-am-refocused-radio--2671113/support.

From selling deceased patients' body parts to denying cancer treatment over upfront payments, the Lown Institute's annual Shkreli Awards spotlight the most egregious examples of profiteering and dysfunction in American healthcare. Dr. Vikas Saini, President of the Lown Institute, walks us through 2024's (dis)honorees and what they reveal about the state of our healthcare system.We cover:

The remarkable life and legacy of cardiologist and humanitarian Dr. Bernard Lown, and his ties to Maine

Acabo la historia de Bernard Lown y el tema del banco de sangre. Más anécdotas de la historia de la medicina en mi libro del sistema inmunitario: https://amzn.to/3USMCy0

Continúo con la historia de Bernard Lown y el tema del banco de sangre. Es flipante. En mi libro del sistema inmune también cuento cosillas de la historia de la medicina: https://amzn.to/3USMCy0

Por el Día Mundial del Donante de Sangre te empiezo a contar una historia sobre Bernard Lown. Vas a flipar. En mi libro del sistema inmune también cuento cosillas de la historia de la medicina: https://amzn.to/3USMCy0

You would think that hospitals with the most money would offer the most charity care—trickle down and all of that. If my health system is big and I have lots of money and profitable commercial patients, I can stuff more dollar bills into the charitable donation balance sheet bucket, right? Except, in general, it's a fairly solid no on that. Let's talk about some of my takeaways from the conversation that I had with Vikas Saini, MD, and Judith Garber from the Lown Institute. During the conversation, there's also mention of a powerhouse of a New York Times article. So, let's circle up on but a few of the more interesting (according to me) reasons why some rich hospitals fail to offer the level of charity care that you might think they could or should: #1: Chasing commercial contracts because they are very profitable means building in areas where there are frankly not a whole lot of poor people. You see hospital chains doing this all of the time and saying at the 2023 JPM (J.P. Morgan) conference that they intend to do more of it, opening up in a fancy suburb with no affordable housing. When this happens, there is just less opportunity to offer charity care. The need for financial aid in that ZIP code is just less. #2: The Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) movement, which is weird to say because, in other respects, I'm a big fan. There are a lot of services and surgeries moving out of the hospital into ambulatory surgical centers or just the outpatient setting, and this is going on for a bunch of reasons, including Medicare and employers being very on board with this to save facility fees. But here's a consequence: Surgeons and other docs are now not in the hospital. So, indigent patient shows up in the emergency room and needs an emergency surgery or some intervention. But wait … those physicians and their teams are no longer in the hospital. And now the hospital doesn't have the “capability or the capacity” to serve that patient. I heard from a surgeon the other day, and when he's on call at his hospital, he's getting patients shipped to him on the regular from hospitals in other states. Now, about this “oh, so sorry … we can't possibly help you so we're gonna stick you in an ambulance and take you to another state” plan of action. I called up emergency room expert Al Lewis. He told me that if this “ship 'em out” is being done routinely as a pattern by hospitals who have an ER, you could call it evidence of an EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act) violation on several levels. You can't have an emergency room and then routinely not be able to handle emergencies, especially when the emergencies you can't handle always seem to be of a certain kind and for a certain kind of patient. Speaking of violations, one more that reduces the need and level of charity care is canoodling with ambulance companies to take the poor people to some other hospital and the rich people to your hospital, which was allegedly transpiring in New Jersey, based on a recent lawsuit. #3: [play some foreboding music here] This last one is the big kahuna underlying reason why some very rich hospitals may not offer the level of charity care which you'd think they would. This was superbly summed up by Tricia Schildhouse on LinkedIn the other day. She knew a physician leader who would go around saying, “Non-profit and for-profit is a tax position, not a philosophy.” Bottom line, this whole thing boils down to what has been normalized as OK behavior at some of these rich hospitals. You have people in decision-making roles taking full advantage of their so-called tax position to jack up their revenues—revenues which they have no interest in frittering away on charitable causes. Why would they do that when they can use the money to, I don't know, stand up a venture fund or make Wall Street investments? Don Berwick's latest article in JAMA is entitled “The Existential Threat of Greed in US Health Care.” And, yeah … exactly. Back to that New York Times article that we talk about in this healthcare podcast, here's what it says about a hospital in Washington State. It says: “The executives, led by [the hospital's CFO] at the time, devised … a program called Rev-Up. “Rev-Up provided [the hospital's] employees with a detailed playbook for wringing money out of patients—even those who were supposed to receive free care because of their low incomes.” All of this being said, there are hospitals out there who are, in fact, living up to their social contract and serving their communities well with very constrained resources. You also have hospitals just in general working within some really whack payment models that we have in this country, which easily could be a root cause precipitating this suboptimal-ness. Dr. Saini and Judith Garber mention three direct solves for hospital charity shortfalls and also the larger context of the issue. So, there's, of course, better reporting and better auditing, which is pretty nonexistent in any kind of standardized way right now. I also really liked one of the solutions that Dr. Saini mentions on the show: Maybe instead of all the hospitals doing their own charity care thing, they all should pool their money regionally and then put a community board in charge of distributing it. That way, if there is a hospital in an area where the charity care is really needed, even if the rich hospital nearby doesn't have a facility there, they can help fund this care that their larger community really needs—including, by the way, public health needs, which is currently a big underfunded problem. As mentioned earlier, I am speaking with Vikas Saini, MD, and Judith Garber. Dr. Saini is president of the Lown Institute. Judith Garber is a senior policy analyst there. They've studied hospitals from a number of dimensions, not just charity care.   You can learn more at lowninstitute.org and lownhospitalsindex.org.    Vikas Saini, MD, is president of the Lown Institute. He is a clinical cardiologist trained by Dr. Bernard Lown at Harvard, where he has taught and done research. Dr. Saini leads the Institute's signature project, the Lown Institute Hospitals Index, the first ranking to measure hospital social responsibility. The Index, first launched in July 2020, evaluates hospitals on equity, value, and outcomes and includes never-before-used metrics such as avoiding overuse, pay equity, and racial inclusivity. In his role at the Lown Institute since 2012, Dr. Saini led the development of the Right Care series of papers published by The Lancet in 2017, convened six national conferences featuring world-renowned leaders in healthcare, and guided other Lown Institute projects such as the “Shkreli Awards.” Dr. Saini also serves as co-chair of the Right Care Alliance, a grassroots network of clinicians, patient activists, and community leaders organizing to put patients, not profits, at the heart of healthcare. Prior to the Lown Institute, Dr. Saini was in private practice in cardiology for over 15 years on Cape Cod, where he also founded a primary care physician network participating in global payment contracts. He also co-founded Aspect Medical Systems, the pioneer in noninvasive consciousness monitoring in the operating room with the BIS device. Dr. Saini is an expert on the optimal medical management of cardiologic conditions, medical overuse, hospital performance and evaluation, and health equity. He has spoken and presented research at professional meetings around the world and has been quoted in numerous print media, on radio, and on television.  Judith Garber is a senior policy analyst at the Lown Institute. She joined the Lown team in 2016, after receiving her Master of Public Policy degree from the Heller School of Social Policy. Her research interests include hospital community benefit policy, overuse and value-based care, and racial health disparities. She has authored several white papers, journal articles, op-eds, and other publications on these topics. Judith previously worked at the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program, the Midas Collaborative, and Pearson Education. She has a bachelor's degree in American studies and political science from Rutgers University.   06:50 Why does America need socially responsible hospitals? 08:23 What standards are hospitals beholden to with their charitable spending? 08:47 “It's the honor system, essentially.”—Dr. Saini 11:38 What is fair share spending? 13:43 Which hospitals are paying their fair share? 15:05 Why do hospitals that are financially more strapped tend to give back to their communities more? 17:25 Why is it hard for hospitals with the most privately insured patients to do the most for their community? 18:56 “These outcomes … are the outcomes of the [current system].”—Dr. Saini 21:23 “A key problem here is [that] systems have gotten so big.”—Dr. Saini 22:30 What's the solution to fixing the problem with hospital charity care? 23:52 EP374 with Dave Chase. 29:21 What would be the level of acceptance with changing the system as it stands with hospitals?   You can learn more at lowninstitute.org and lownhospitalsindex.org.   @DrVikasSaini and @JudiTheGarber of @lowninstitute discuss #hospitalcharitycare on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #hospitals Recent past interviews: Click a guest's name for their latest RHV episode! David Muhlestein, Nikhil Krishnan (Encore! EP355), Emily Kagan Trenchard, Dr Scott Conard, Gloria Sachdev and Chris Skisak, Mike Thompson, Dr Rishi Wadhera (Encore! EP326), Ge Bai (Encore! EP356), Dave Dierk and Stacey Richter (INBW37), Merrill Goozner, Betsy Seals (EP387), Stacey Richter (INBW36), Dr Eric Bricker (Encore! EP351), Al Lewis, Dan Mendelson, Wendell Potter, Nick Stefanizzi, Brian Klepper (Encore! EP335), Dr Aaron Mitchell (EP382), Karen Root, Mark Miller, AJ Loiacono, Josh LaRosa, Stacey Richter (INBW35), Rebecca Etz (Encore! EP295), Olivia Webb (Encore! EP337), Mike Baldzicki, Lisa Bari  

Season 1 | Episode 30 | September 8, 2021In this week's episode, Dr. Trey Dobson hosts Vikas Saini, MD, the president of the Lown Institute. They will discuss the Lown Hospitals index, launched in July 2020, which evaluates hospitals on equity, value, and outcomes, and includes never-before-used metrics such as avoiding overuse, pay equity, and racial inclusivity. Dr. Saini is a clinical cardiologist trained by Dr. Bernard Lown at The Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard University, where he has taught and done research. Dr. Saini leads the Institute's signature project, the Lown Institute Hospitals Index, the first ranking to measure hospital social responsibility. In his role at the Lown Institute, Dr. Saini led the development of the Right Care series of papers published by The Lancet in 2017; convened six national conferences annually featuring world-renowned leaders in health care; and guided other Lown Institute projects such as the “Shkreli Awards.” Dr. Saini is also co-chair of the Right Care Alliance, a grassroots network of clinicians, patient activists, and community leaders organizing to put patients, not profits, at the heart of health care. He has practiced cardiology with the Lown Cardiovascular Group at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, and, before joining the Lown Institute,  was in private practice in community cardiology for 15 years on Cape Cod. There he also founded Cape Physicians LLC, a primary care network managing global care with financial risk. Early in his career, he was scientific co-founder of Aspect Medical Systems, the pioneer and continued market leader in consciousness monitoring in the operating room using the BIS monitor. Underwriter: Mack Molding

"Ever the teacher, the Dr. Lown we knew modeled 'The Lost Art of Healing' (the title of one of his books) in the clinic, the laboratory, and the halls of power. As health professionals, we watched him listen carefully to his patients; as citizens, we saw him listen deeply to our neighbors. We heard him importune our health care enterprise to do what is best for democracy with an eye on the future, instead of what helps today's bottom line. And he entreated us to bear witness to the harms and risks of our social choices, to shine a light on the possible, and to lead toward a future that is better than the past. 'If you can see the invisible,' Dr. Lown said, 'you can do the impossible.' Dr. Bernard Lown was the best of his generation. Kind and wise. A listener, a thinker, a doer. A teacher and prodder. A challenger and inspirer. Impossible to equal. And impossible to ignore." Michael Fine is a family physician. He shares his story and discusses the KevinMD article, "In memory of Bernard Lown." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2021/04/in-memory-of-bernard-lown.html)

Decades of poor outcomes in terms of cost, quality, and access have not created societal commitment to confronting the issue of low-value care in hospitals. Despite medical errors serving as the #3 cause of death, unpaid hospital bills leading as the #1 reason for personal bankruptcy in our country, vast disparities in care prevalent across racial and sociodemographic lines, and a general sense of pricing opaqueness, we have not yet seen a community-led movement towards hospital accountability for health equity, quality of care, and avoidance of low-value care.   If hospitals are to equitably deliver the high-quality care that is essential to improving community health, the time is now. Assessing how well hospitals are serving all of their patients in their communities is a key first step in improving their quality of care. The Lown Institute, a think tank generating ideas for a just and caring system for health, has developed a tool to answer the question, “Are hospitals providing high-value care, achieving excellent patient outcomes, and meeting their obligation to advance health equity in their communities?”   Today we are joined Vikas Saini & Shannon Brownlee of the Lown Institute to discuss The Lown Institute Hospitals Index, a novel way of evaluating and ranking hospitals in order to help them better serve their patients and communities and to hold them accountable to addressing social determinants of health. This unique hospital ranking system is breaking new ground as we move forward in the race to value.   Episode Bookmarks: 02:00 Despite decades of dreadful outcomes, society has yet to confront the issue of hospitals providing low-value care 04:30 The legacy of Dr. Bernard Lown, as a pioneering cardiologist, humanitarian, and early advocate of value-based care 08:20 Dr. Lown's philosophy of value-based care and the subtle distinction between doing as little “to” patients, but doing as much as possible “for” them 11:15 A new hospital ranking tool is needed in value-based care -- one that factors in civic leadership and racial equity 12:50 The Lown institute Hospitals Index is the first ranking system that actually measures overuse and unnecessary care 13:20 Economic tradeoffs matter when you look at racial equity 14:05 In ranking hospitals, the value of the care is as important as clinical outcomes. 15:05 Good hospitals are vital to healthy communities, but how you define and measure “good” matters. 15:30 The Civic Leadership component of the Hospital Index which accounts for spending on charity care, pay equity, and racial inclusivity 19:00 Variation in social and civic leadership metrics with academic medical centers, particularly inclusivity and pay equity 20:20 How Black Lives Matter has forced hospitals to reexamine their culture and commitment to health equity 21:45 Neighboring hospitals with drastically different racial inclusivity scores and the impact of residential segregation 25:00 Segregated (“separate and unequal”) hospitals with disproportionate impacts in COVID outcomes for those in low-income communities 26:30 The way we have organized and funded the hospital sector will not meet population health needs for communities 27:30 The need for regional coordination, changes in payment mechanisms, and global budgeting for health care transformation. 29:00 The Big Business of Healthcare and why “Health care is too important to leave to the Healthcare sector.” 30:00 Having a hospital system based on cooperation in population health versus having individual healthcare businesses competing against each other for volume 31:00 The disappointing, yet predictable, inequitable distribution model for COVID-19 vaccines 36:00 Low-value care is a significant portion of waste; estimates of spending on low-value care range from $100 billion to $700 billion each year! 39:00 Vikas discusses how his clinical training with Dr.

Risk factors for COVID-19, CMR after COVID-19, and two important obesity studies are discussed in this week’s podcast. To read a partial transcript or to comment https://www.medscape.com/index/twic Cardiometabolic Conditions and COVID19 Most Severe COVID Tied to Four Cardiometabolic Conditions https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/946488 Coronavirus Disease 2019 Hospitalizations Attributable to Cardiometabolic Conditions in the United States: A Comparative Risk Assessment Analysis https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.120.019259 CMR after COVID19 Myocardial Injury Seen on MRI in 54% of Recovered COVID https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/946287 Patterns of myocardial injury in recovered troponin-positive COVID-19 patients assessed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehab075 Obesity Trials Semaglutide for Weight Loss? A Good First STEP, With Caveats https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/945630 Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2032183 Major Breakthrough in Weight Loss With Semaglutide? https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/940841 Effect of Subcutaneous Semaglutide vs Placebo as an Adjunct to Intensive Behavioral Therapy on Body Weight in Adults With Overweight or Obesity https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2777025 Features Fired for Good Judgment a Sign of Physicians' Lost Respect https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/946286 A Tribute to Bernard Lown https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/946447 You may also like: Medscape editor-in-chief Eric Topol, MD, and master storyteller and clinician Abraham Verghese, MD, on Medicine and the Machine https://www.medscape.com/features/public/machine The Bob Harrington Show with Stanford University Chair of Medicine, Robert A. Harrington, MD. https://www.medscape.com/author/bob-harrington Questions or feedback, please contact news@medscape.net

Bernard Lown, Type 2 MI, Sacubitril/Valsartan and COVID19 anticoagulation are discussed in this week’s podcast. To read a partial transcript or to comment https://www.medscape.com/twic COVID Israeli Study Finds Pfizer Vaccine 95% Effective Against COVID-19 https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/945962 Bernard Lown Cardiologist, Antiwar Activist Bernard Lown Dies at 99 https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/945966 Type 2 MI New Light Cast on Type-2 MI Aims to Sharpen Diagnosis, Therapy https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/946075 Early AC in COVID19 More Evidence Supports Early Anticoagulation in COVID-19 https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/945902 Sacubitril/Valsartan FDA Expands Sacubitril/Valsartan Indication to Embrace Some HFpEF https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/945936 Five Reasons Sacubitril/Valsartan Should NOT Be Approved for HFpEF https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/944168 You may also like: Medscape editor-in-chief Eric Topol, MD, and master storyteller and clinician Abraham Verghese, MD, on Medicine and the Machine https://www.medscape.com/features/public/machine The Bob Harrington Show with Stanford University Chair of Medicine, Robert A. Harrington, MD. https://www.medscape.com/author/bob-harrington Questions or feedback, please contact news@medscape.net

  The Shkreli Awards have been published each year, for the past five years and counting, by the Lown Institute. The Shkreli Awards are a much-anticipated top 10 list of the worst examples of profiteering and dysfunction in health care. This year’s list, celebrating the most excellently egregious profiteering in 2020, are unique in the sense that everybody on this list this year—every one of them—decided, deliberately, that a pandemic might be a super opportunistic global stroke of luck to exploit fear and anguish to line their own pockets. The list is named for Martin Shkreli, the price-hiking “pharma bro” that is easy to point to as a model of pure, unadulterated health care profiteering. Here’s the point: Just because you can be clever and shifty enough to make a whole lot of money in health care doesn’t mean you should. Every dollar anyone earns without adding commensurate value back is just one more nail in the financially toxic coffin that patients and employers face in this country—and taxpayers. The Lown Institute is a nonpartisan think tank advocating bold ideas for a just and caring system for health. Their work is centered around four main topics: low-value or unnecessary care, accountability, health equity, and the human connection. In this health care podcast, I am looking so forward to speaking with Vikas Saini, MD, and Shannon Brownlee from the Lown Institute about this year’s Shkreli Award winners. (I wish I had a soundtrack of audience clapping. I’d cue it right now.) There are 10 winners, and we talk about most of them in this episode. You can learn more by connecting with Dr. Saini (@DrVikasSaini) and Shannon (@ShannonBrownlee) on Twitter.  Vikas Saini, MD, is president of the Lown Institute. He is a clinical cardiologist trained by Dr. Bernard Lown at Harvard, where he has taught and done research. He has also been an entrepreneur as scientific cofounder of Aspect Medical Systems, the pioneer in noninvasive consciousness monitoring in the operating room with the BIS device. He was in private practice in cardiology for over 15 years on Cape Cod, where he also founded a primary care physician network participating in global payment contracts. Dr. Saini is board certified in cardiovascular disease, internal medicine, and nuclear cardiology. He has served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health, where he initiated the first course focused on policy translation for cardiovascular disease prevention. In April 2012, Dr. Saini convened the Avoiding Avoidable Care Conference with the noted author Shannon Brownlee. This was the first major academic conference focused on the problem of overuse of health care services. Dr. Saini led the international writing group of the Right Care series of papers commissioned by The Lancet and published in January 2017. With Ms. Brownlee, he is a convener of the Right Care Alliance, a grassroots network of physicians, nurses, patient activists, and community leaders dedicated to creating public demand for care that is safe, effective, affordable, and just. Dr. Saini has spoken and presented research about avoiding unnecessary care at professional meetings around the world and has been quoted in numerous print media and on radio and television. Shannon Brownlee is senior vice president of the Lown Institute. She and Lown Institute President Dr. Vikas Saini are cofounders of the Right Care Alliance, a network of activist patients, clinicians, and community leaders devoted to organizing a broad-based movement for a radically better health care system. Before joining the Lown Institute, Brownlee served as acting director of the health policy program at the New America Foundation. As a senior fellow at New America, she published the groundbreaking book, Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer, which was named the best economics book of 2007 by the New York Times. She was a senior writer at US News and World Report and Discover Magazine and is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Congressional Commendation, and was named one of “four writers who changed the world” by the World Congress of Science Journalists. Her stories and essays have appeared in such publications as The Atlantic, New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Times of London, Time, New Republic, Los Angeles Times, BMJ, The Lancet, and Health Affairs. Brownlee is a nationally recognized speaker, has been featured in several documentary films, and has appeared on such broadcast outlets as ABC World News, Good Morning America, Fox News, NPR, and The Diane Rehm Show and is quoted regularly in the press. She is the author of several peer-reviewed articles in medical journals and has served on numerous scientific panels, working groups, and roundtables. From 2014-2016, she was an editor of the “Less is More” section of JAMA Internal Medicine and was a lecturer from 2011-2014 at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. She is currently a member of the boards of the Robert Graham Center of the American Academy of Family Practice and Families USA and is a visiting scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Brownlee holds a master’s degree in marine science from the University of California, Santa Cruz. 02:51 “COVID was like … just a glare of x-ray that revealed everything … going on in the health care system.” 05:14 “There’s always profiteering whenever there’s a buck to be made.” 05:33 Is profiteering in the health care system deteriorating? 06:07 How did the winners of the 2020 Shkreli Awards get chosen? 07:18 “The categories that this falls into is really the stakeholders in health care.” 08:11 What did Connecticut internist Steven Murphy, MD, do to earn his place at #8 on the awards list? 09:29 How did big pharma companies (some of which have been developing COVID vaccines) like Pfizer get on the Shkreli Awards list? 11:16 “We do have to start asking some hard questions about who is supposed to benefit from the … public funding that goes into these kinds of products—vaccines and drugs.” 12:49 “The thing about private equity … is that the business model really is profiteering in health care.” 19:43 Why did the federal government win the first place in the Shkreli Awards? 24:13 “Most of this is not illegal. It’s merely unethical.” 26:56 “There really is a radically better health care system that’s possible, but we’re not really going to get there if people are shy about talking publicly about some of these issues.” You can learn more by connecting with Dr. Saini (@DrVikasSaini) and Shannon (@ShannonBrownlee) on Twitter.  @DrVikasSaini and @ShannonBrownlee discuss the 2020 Shkreli Awards on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #valuebasedcare #profiteering “COVID was like … just a glare of x-ray that revealed everything … going on in the health care system.” @DrVikasSaini and @ShannonBrownlee discuss the 2020 Shkreli Awards on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #valuebasedcare #profiteering “There’s always profiteering whenever there’s a buck to be made.” @DrVikasSaini and @ShannonBrownlee discuss the 2020 Shkreli Awards on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #valuebasedcare #profiteering How did the winners of the 2020 Shkreli Awards get chosen? @DrVikasSaini and @ShannonBrownlee discuss the 2020 Shkreli Awards on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #valuebasedcare #profiteering “The categories that this falls into is really the stakeholders in health care.” @DrVikasSaini and @ShannonBrownlee discuss the 2020 Shkreli Awards on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #valuebasedcare #profiteering How did big pharma companies (some of which have been developing COVID vaccines) like Pfizer get on the Shkreli Awards list? @DrVikasSaini and @ShannonBrownlee discuss the 2020 Shkreli Awards on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #valuebasedcare #profiteering “We do have to start asking some hard questions about who is supposed to benefit from the … public funding that goes into these kinds of products—vaccines and drugs.” @DrVikasSaini and @ShannonBrownlee discuss the 2020 Shkreli Awards on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #valuebasedcare #profiteering “The thing about private equity … is that the business model really is profiteering in health care.” @DrVikasSaini and @ShannonBrownlee discuss the 2020 Shkreli Awards on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #valuebasedcare #profiteering Why did the federal government win the first place in the Shkreli Awards? @DrVikasSaini and @ShannonBrownlee discuss the 2020 Shkreli Awards on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #valuebasedcare #profiteering “Most of this is not illegal. It’s merely unethical.” @DrVikasSaini and @ShannonBrownlee discuss the 2020 Shkreli Awards on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #valuebasedcare #profiteering “There really is a radically better health care system that’s possible, but we’re not really going to get there if people are shy about talking publicly about some of these issues.” @DrVikasSaini and @ShannonBrownlee discuss the 2020 Shkreli Awards on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #valuebasedcare #profiteering

Tim opens that he knows mothers who are not allowing their young infants and children to be in the room during TV news. As it’s too violent and overwhelming for young sensitive minds. In today’s world, there is a need for them to play, acquire communication skills and keep their innocence for a little while longer. However Lisa, as a mother of 3 boys, thinks that around 9 years of age they need to understand a little more about what is happening in their world.  The question then comes up - Where do you source your news from? Especially international news?  RT.com - (Russia Today) good for what is going on around our planet, but not necessary as to what is happening in Russia. CNN is not necessarily good anymore. Lisa, mentions El Jazeera - has some good things, but we realise it too has its weak points.  The Guardian - used to be relatively balanced but having a leftish viewpoint - that now having gone into the USA - has become very anti Russian so as to build up it’s US viewership.  Lisa said Guardian let Jullian Assange down badly. The BBC did not even get a mention. Lisa, says news today focuses on the head not the heart. Though the Guardian has relatively good ecology and environmental coverage. We then went free form and covered bees, as being the proverbial canary in the coal mine - being susceptible to 5G wireless radiation and becoming lost and not being able to navigate back to the hive. This being linked as a result of increasing global wifi frequencies. Then there are neonicotinoids (and very possibly glyphosate) that are being used in the industrial, factory farming agriculture sector   That bees provide so much - including health products as well as pollination for food.  Lisa emphasises that the birds and the bees plus the insect kingdom are going to be the proverbial mass canaries in the coal mine. Lisa - saving insects due their drop off in numbers is very important - glyphosate yet again but also neonicotinoids  - a chemical that is used to coat the seed with this concoction and the plants grow up with this poison in them. This being deleterious  - now there are basically no insects on our car windscreens … no moths at night on our outside light. Insects are disappearing. https://www.ourplanet.org/greenplanetfm/karen-wealleans-pat-baskett-dangers-of-neonicotinoids Superphosphate - leaving cadmium in the soil. NZ has a growing problem with too much superphosphate being spread across NZ farmland so as to speed up the growth of grass, but leaving a deadly problem in the ground. - cadmium a heavy metal.  https://organicnz.org.nz/media-releases/toxic-time-bomb-blow-apart-health-wealth/ We covered illnesses - and Jodi Brunning’s recent GreenplanetFM interview - where she talked about many diseases and illnesses, bad tummy - intestine problems, skin rashes and lack of sleep - all happening at once as in some sort of convergence - they have named it ‘co-morbidity’.  That these are unknown illnesses and there are increasing links to the agricultural chemicals we have in the food we eat and that are sprayed into our food chain.  https://www.ourplanet.org/greenplanetfm/jodie-bruning-independent-researcher-of-health-especially-children-s-wellbeing-in-new-zealand Lisa said homeopathics - continues to work for her Tim talked about the British Royal Family and its continued use and success with it for 150 years, especially  in Germany and France. That it is deliberately maligned - but classical Homeopaths still being trained here in NZ.  That we humans are wave-forms - and so are homeopathic solutions. By 1948 the Rockefeller/Morgan Financial empires had already invested $800 million to manipulate pubic education in matters of health and pharmacology. Note; JD Rockefeller and his recently deceased 104 year old son David only relied on homeopaths to maintain their personal health. Ref. Heidelberg University Clinic Department of Psychosomatic Medicine Chief Consultants (Prof. Mitserlich and Dr Ruffler) opinion on Bruno Groning (24.10.51) BG-A 18 . Neutrinos - instantly passing through all 7.7 billion of us. Tim emphasised that there are trillions of invisible neutrinos zipping through us right at this moment, just under the speed of light. The come from our sun and all stars - passing straight through our planet and out the other side in less than nano-seconds. That nothing is solid - our body is in many ways a cellular hologram. What do we do for our Great Sustainer? Children are being brought up - to think that food comes from the supermarket - not really being taught how all of our food chain comes from nature - that we now have a sanitised media - sales are more important that growing your own healthy organic produce. (we acknowledge that not everyone has land on which to grow food). Indigenous Connection Lisa talks about indigenous peoples connection to nature and the source from where we spring. They know exactly where their food comes from. Especially Maori and their connection - and their whakapapa - their umbilical cord linkage - following it back from their mother - through their ancestral lineage going all the way back to the 7 canoes (waka) that brought them to Aotearoa NZ from across the Pacific, supposedly around the 1400’s. They intuitively, sense and understand ‘connection’. Including to Mother earth - Papatuanku. Where are today’s leaders in relationship to the future of children? Tim asked about - where are the leaders of the world who are prepared to talk about the future of children?  In particular his asking, ‘why can they not factor children into all future legislation?’ Lisa - because of short term thinking and what is going to make them popular for the next election - only for 3 year terms (NZ)  She talks about that humans for some unknown reason do not ‘feel’ the future. Listen  Brain does not get it but the heart does. What are we leaving for the future to sort out? Greta Thunberg and the children of tomorrow. David Suzuki’s daughter in 1992 - never got the media attention way back then at the 1992 Rio Conference - where her addressing the UN was equally poignant, how did it take so long? We wish Greta had mentioned the fossil fuel use - that the US military are the record user of fossil fuel.  But what about the $trillions being spent on the worlds military? - we could solve so many if not all of our ecological problems by diverting military spending into environmental action. And if Greta could have also mentioned Fukushima in Japan - that is belching nuclear radiation into the Pacific - our local ocean. (However as a young girl on the global stage it is a momentous task to be able to stand up in a public venue and talk from the heart.  Question to you dear reader, could you stand up and without notes talk to 2000 people plus?) That there is plastic garbage in the ocean and that there are many other ecological challenges that are outside, climate change.  Lisa, mentions that the status quo have got too much focus on money to want to move on climate change. Other non polluting energy systems that have been silenced. Tim - talks to other means - free energy devices that both Foster Gamble in the trailer to the Thrivemovie.com - tells - that the tech is here. Dr Steven Greer agrees - however this information is being silenced by big money, the fossil fuel and nuclear power lobbies and over arching vested interests.  Its ‘called censorship by omission.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OibqdwHyZxk  Tim - that we could also work towards research into little black boxes that could possibly capture neutrinos passing through our planet and that as these neutrinos are now known to have mass - they may be very much like solar energy coming from the sun - hitting a highly refined ‘plate surface’ within the little black box that then catalizers an energy transfer into electricity.  But this concept too is not in the public consciousness, yet needs to be. Being sanitised by MSM - and sanitised from academia and not let out in the public domain. Lisa says that new ideas that do come out - will end up being taken over by a large energy combine, who will buy the inventor out with many millions and then that corporation will sit on this tech break-through - having no intention what so-ever of taking this new revolutionary concept to the market - or giving clean energy to the human race. Serious Global use of Microwave Technology  Lisa talks about microwave tech that is being used right up to this moment - HAARP technologies being mentioned and then microwave weather wars and how Mozambique was affected by a large tropical cyclone - a weather incident that culminated in yet another huge tropical storm that completely flooded a whole area where coincidentally oil had just been discovered. Resulting in the local inhabitants being forced to flee the area and then the oil corporation moved in. Lisa says is there a link? She also says people have to start talking about this - and doing one’s our own research. However note that Google in the last 3 years have been, changing their algorithms to hide information from their search engines and essentially censor anyone wanting to find out what is truly going on. This is a very serious matter for all activists but also mums and dads wanting to obtain more information so as to advise their children in the best possible manner as to what is happening and what we can do to change the narrative for the better. https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08-31/artificial-hurricanes-manufactured-deep-state-enterprise Back to the News! Tims asks the question; who is the person who chooses everyday what is to be on the news? What is the criteria from which they make their choice?   Radio NZ was mentioned as having some good news (but I Tim, find it too conservative for myself). Tim talked of young children unsupervised on the web - very dangerous and very seductive - keep them away from the dark web. Trolling and blogs that are 60% true and 40% distortion … Lisa says she uses her intuition with regard to a lot of information that she sees now on the web. As a woman she says what else can she fall back on, but to use her sense of intuition to divine the truth. Q and the Qanon phenomenon comes up - and who is Q or they? Are they are right wing conspiracy theory - even if they say that the Rothschilds are at the top of the heap - and that Israel is to be left to last - that Obama and the Clintons are going to face extremely serious charges in the coming future. That Jeffrey Epstein being a Mossad agent was used to compromise people and leaders in high places and blackmail them so as to have them do what their new masters deem as necessary? The fact that Greta Thunberg has hit the headlines has also wiped Epstein and his nefarious activities out of the news and the global narrative, has been noted - as well as taking 5G out of the public discourse too, is also noted.  Censorship by Omission? Donald J Trump and his Executive Order EO 13818 signed on the 21st December 2017.  Is it connected to Epstein being arrested and  jailed - being the first of many involved in people trafficking and pedophilia? Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse or Corruption To the many following this Executive Order they state that this is Trumps greatest initiative - the take down of human trafficking - that goes all the way up to the top of global (sex) trafficking and all the darkness that goes with it.  This is what the Epstein case was - just the top of iceberg - and he got eliminated - by who we do not know? - But Epstein has been linked as a front of the Mossad. If you saw Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut - you see how sex and blackmail closed down all the rich families to what is going on at the top of the upper strata of the West.  Who knows what is happening elsewhere? The Catholic Church and Cardinal George Pell being sentenced to jail - was this just ‘near’ the top of the iceberg too?  5G - the Nuclear Free Moment for NZ?  5G Vodafone and their 1400 towers. Lisa says people power needs to block the putting up of the towers as per her information of what was happening in the Coromandel. That these tower deployments need no authority to put up. They can be put up anywhere the teleco’s want with no public input - whatsoever. That means right outside your home dramatically dropping the value of your house. Telecommunications corporations are now the largest corporate entities on the planet. Lisa thinks that the Government will not do anything about 5G -  they are tied into the Agenda - so yet again it is: Grassroots action for us all. Notice how few letters to the editor questioning 5G get published in the NZ Herald? Yet, there is a gathering ground swell - nation wide. Call to Action October the 23rd October near Smales Farm Takapuna on - Vodafone Placard demo - staff have been told that it is nothing to be of concern - just an upgrade to 4G. https://www.facebook.com/events/3033575223534618/permalink/3039608389597968/ Stop 5G Placard Protest. Where - Vodafone. 74 Taharoto Rd Takapuna Auckland When – Wednesday October 23rd From -  11.30am - 2pm. Parking may be difficult Buses to Smales Farm + two minute walk Bring – placards opposing 5G Get creative! Hope to see you all there and please share. The World Media always wanting to frighten us. Nuclear war coming up in the narrative between Pakistan & India - there is so much turmoil being fermented as of now.  Tim talked about how he was loosely affiliated in the early 1980’s with Beyond War a group in Palo Alto in California, USA. The Beyond War Award[9] was created in 1983 and ran for eight years (1983-1990) to honor the great efforts of humankind as it moves to build a world beyond war. The award attracted national and international attention through the nominating and selection process. Second Beyond War Award Ceremony 1984. The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War received the second Beyond War Award. It was presented to the co-founders, Dr. Bernard Lown of the US and Dr. Yevgeni Chazov of the USSR, simultaneously through the use of a live satellite teleconference link or "spacebridge" between Moscow and San Francisco. This historic event was viewed live by over 75,000 people. Over 100 million Soviets subsequently saw the televised videotape. (Free Video at Archive.org.) Third Beyond War Award Ceremony 1985. The Beyond War Foundation presented its award to six world leaders, President Miguel de la Madrid in Mexico, President Raul Alfonsin of Argentina, Prime Minister Olof Palme in Sweden, First President Julius Nyerere (now retired) in Tanzania, Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou in Greece and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in India, each in his respective country, at the same time on two-way television so they could all see and hear each other, and so the world could look on.[10]  What World Leader stands out today? The big countries with Nuclear weapons won’t budge on their weapons.  Israel - has them in secret and ignores all calls to be more transparent.  The Atomic Energy commission are sent into Iran and North Korea - but not Israel  Survival Movement NZ on facebook   Food secure and resilience - listen to Lisa explain what is happening on this facebook forum   https://www.facebook.com/groups/470181836848018/  Alternative News https://www.silverdoctors.com/headlines/world-news/cia-whistleblower-kevin-shipp-former-cia-director-brennan-will-rat-out-trump-coup-criminals/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeytzB8J0dI   Roberts David Steele ex CIA  interviewed by an Australian who gets a good number of dark questions answered.

In episode #39, Andrew and Maxi build off of their conversation with Deri Latimer from episode #38. Deri had talked about challenging the stories we tell ourselves.  With this podcast, the concept of healing is explored, and why we as physiotherapists may struggle with the concept of being a healer.  Key Topics Discussed: Is there a resurgence of healing in medical care? Why do we struggle with seeing ourselves as healers or the concept of healing within our practice? This topic really was triggered from reading an opinion piece from the New York Times, called “Doctors, Revolt!” which you can read here.  It shares the story of this resident physician's encounter with Bernard Lown, professor and innovator in cardiac rehab (he pioneered the use of the direct-current defibrillator and the cardioverter.) He also wrote a book on healing called "The Lost Art of Healing", and he was now a patient in this resident's hospital. The resident was challenged by Dr. Lown about the need for vitals every four hours and how disruptive this was for rest and healing. The hospital, he lamented, is more like a factory; “it tests every ache and treats every laboratory abnormality, but it does little to heal its patients.” Treating and healing are both necessary, but modern health care too often disregards the latter.  I know we both really resonated with the message in this article about a return to healing. And as physiotherapists we wanted to explore this topic in more detail.   He called for a return to the fundamentals of doctoring — listening to know the patient behind the symptoms; carefully touching the patient during the physical exam to communicate caring; using words that affirm the patient's vitality; and attending to the stresses and situations of his life circumstances. We hope you enjoy this episode!

Despite ongoing turmoil and conflict in our world, there are still people who are working for peace. Listen for the annual compendium of highlights from the Peace Talks Radio series on peacemaking and nonviolent conflict resolution. Listeners will hear about the Dalai Lama's commitment to peace, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's peace work, peace lessons from the annual Rainbow Gatherings and from international water negotiations. Other programs spotlighting a community art project and an international pen pal project for peace will be recalled. Plus comments on peace building through travel with Rick Steves, reduction of nuclear arsenals from Nobel Peace prize Laureate Dr. Bernard Lown and a word from Capt. James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise (really!). It's an uplifting and empowering hour. Paul Ingles hosts with Suzanne Kryder and Carol Boss.

Despite ongoing turmoil and conflict in our world, there are still people who are working for peace. Listen for the annual compendium of highlights from the Peace Talks Radio series on peacemaking and nonviolent conflict resolution. Listeners will hear about the Dalai Lama's commitment to peace, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's peace work, peace lessons from the annual Rainbow Gatherings and from international water negotiations. Other programs spotlighting a community art project and an international pen pal project for peace will be recalled. Plus comments on peace building through travel with Rick Steves, reduction of nuclear arsenals from Nobel Peace prize Laureate Dr. Bernard Lown and a word from Capt. James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise (really!). It's an uplifting and empowering hour. Paul Ingles hosts with Suzanne Kryder and Carol Boss.

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. Physician, author, and Nobel Prize-winning peace activist Bernard Lown will discuss his new memoir, Prescription for Survival: A Doctor's Journey to End Nuclear Madness. The inventor of the defibrillator, Dr. Lown was also a peace and anti-nuclear activist, participating in the founding of Physicians for Social Responsibility in 1960 and of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in 1981. In 1985, IPPNW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Lown is currently Professor of Cardiology Emeritus at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Guest: Bernard Lown, MD Host: Martin Samuels, MD How can a physician be an activist in his or her patient's healing? Can that same physician be an activist in society's healing? Joining host Dr. Martin Samuels is Nobel Peace Prize recipient, noted cardiologist and author Dr. Bernard Lown. Among other topics, they discuss how time is critical in understanding the ailments of the patient, and individual physician's responsibility to society.

In this two-part program, Peace Talks Radio salutes "Peacemaking Elders"- people who, well into their eighties, are still working for peace. Our guests in Part One are Juanita Nelson and Ruth Imber. Juanita and Wally Nelson were among the first to take the step of refusing to pay taxes to the government because they did not want their tax dollars to go to military spending. Starting in 1948, they lived simply below the taxable income line and were active in civil rights and social justice movements. Wally Nelson died in 2002 at the age of 93. Juanita Nelson, now 85, continues on her own, living in the house she and Wally Nelson built together from salvaged material. She has no electricity, no plumbing, and grows her own food on a small tract of land in western Massachusetts. Juanita Nelson is one of our guests. Ruth Imber, 83, is a fixture in the peace and justice community in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She's a poet, writer and singing member of the "Raging Grannies." Carol Boss hosts the conversation with these two inspiring women. Our Part Two guest is Dr. Bernard Lown, who co-founded International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and Physicians for Social Responsibility. In 1985, despite active opposition from the U.S. government and NATO, he and a Soviet cardiologist colleague, Evgeni Chazov, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of IPPNW. Now 87, Lown has written Prescription for Suvival: A Doctor's Journey to End Nuclear Madness. He talks with Peace Talks Radio producer Paul Ingles.

In this two-part program, Peace Talks Radio salutes "Peacemaking Elders"- people who, well into their eighties, are still working for peace. Our guests in Part One are Juanita Nelson and Ruth Imber. Juanita and Wally Nelson were among the first to take the step of refusing to pay taxes to the government because they did not want their tax dollars to go to military spending. Starting in 1948, they lived simply below the taxable income line and were active in civil rights and social justice movements. Wally Nelson died in 2002 at the age of 93. Juanita Nelson, now 85, continues on her own, living in the house she and Wally Nelson built together from salvaged material. She has no electricity, no plumbing, and grows her own food on a small tract of land in western Massachusetts. Juanita Nelson is one of our guests. Ruth Imber, 83, is a fixture in the peace and justice community in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She's a poet, writer and singing member of the "Raging Grannies." Carol Boss hosts the conversation with these two inspiring women. Our Part Two guest is Dr. Bernard Lown, who co-founded International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and Physicians for Social Responsibility. In 1985, despite active opposition from the U.S. government and NATO, he and a Soviet cardiologist colleague, Evgeni Chazov, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of IPPNW. Now 87, Lown has written Prescription for Suvival: A Doctor's Journey to End Nuclear Madness. He talks with Peace Talks Radio producer Paul Ingles.

A talk by Bernard Lown, MD. Physician, author, and Nobel Prize-winning peace activist Bernard Lown discusses his new memoir, "Prescription for Survival: A Doctor's Journey to End Nuclear Madness". The inventor of the defibrillator, Dr. Lown was also a peace and anti-nuclear activist, participating in the founding of Physicians for Social Responsibility in 1960 and of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in 1981. In 1985, IPPNW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Lown is currently Professor of Cardiology Emeritus at the Harvard School of Public Health. From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

A talk by Bernard Lown, MD. Physician, author, and Nobel Prize-winning peace activist Bernard Lown discusses his new memoir, "Prescription for Survival: A Doctor's Journey to End Nuclear Madness". The inventor of the defibrillator, Dr. Lown was also a peace and anti-nuclear activist, participating in the founding of Physicians for Social Responsibility in 1960 and of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in 1981. In 1985, IPPNW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Lown is currently Professor of Cardiology Emeritus at the Harvard School of Public Health. From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

A talk by Bernard Lown, MD. Physician, author, and Nobel Prize-winning peace activist Bernard Lown discusses his new memoir, "Prescription for Survival: A Doctor's Journey to End Nuclear Madness". The inventor of the defibrillator, Dr. Lown was also a peace and anti-nuclear activist, participating in the founding of Physicians for Social Responsibility in 1960 and of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in 1981. In 1985, IPPNW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Lown is currently Professor of Cardiology Emeritus at the Harvard School of Public Health. From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.