Straight Talk MD

In vitro fertilization is the most successful form of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and has helped create millions of babies for couples who have failed to become pregnant using the old-fashioned, low-tech methods. It has also created some serious ethical questions. In the largely unregulated world of infertility clinics and IVF, anything that could happen has happened. On today’s show, I have a conversation with Bioethicist, Greg Pence, on IVF and ethics.

While much of the public conversation regarding legalization of cannabis is about its potential medicinal properties, the vast majority of Americans currently using marijuana are admittedly not using it for medicinal purposes. Today, we move beyond the discussion of the purported medical benefits, and Dr. Kai MacDonald examines five brain-based risks of cannabis in recreational users.

In his recent address to Congress, President Trump said he intends to repeal and replace Obamacare. Because Obamacare is literally a matter of life and death for many Americans, any plan to repeal and replace it will affect the lives of millions of people who depend on it. We examine the impact of the repeal and replacement of Obamacare with Dr. Rick Mayes, a former George Bush Sr. Administration Medicaid policy advisor.

Burnout research pioneer, Dr. Christina Maslach, discusses job burnout, and what we can do about it.

Every October, the American Society of Anesthesiologists [the ASA] hosts the largest medical specialty meeting of its kind for thousands and thousands of anesthesiologists from around the world. This year’s meeting is being held in San Francisco from October 13th to 17th.

To recognize the importance of anesthesia in the evolution of surgery, and to commemorate the first public demonstration of surgical anesthesia administered to a patient undergoing surgery [by William Morton on October 16th, 1846], called “World Anesthesia Day”, I present a different episode of the Strange Daze podcast each day of the meeting.

Today’s Episode is Crepitus. It’s a true story about how incompletely understood and improperly conducted laser surgery can turn a routine knee arthroscopy into a life-threatening disaster.