Second Opinion

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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 .

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Follow the Money: What Super Bowl Health Ads Really Sell

Super Bowl medical ads use celebrity endorsements and fear tactics to promote disease screening - not primarily for public health, but to expand the patient pool for new, expensive treatments.

5 min
1 FEB.

When Back Pain Strikes: Why Surgery Isn't Always the Answer

Most back pain doesn't require surgery—so why are we spending two billion dollars over a three-year period on it?

5 min
25 JAN.

The Blue Blood That Saves Lives — But At What Cost?

Every medical injection you've ever received was safety-tested using the blue blood of a 450-million-year-old creature — and we're finally questioning whether that's worth their survival.

5 min
18 JAN.

The Antidepressant Trap: The Story We Weren’t Told

My patient Paul has been trying to stop his antidepressants for months, and what's keeping him trapped reveals a truth the medical community has been slow to acknowledge.

5 min
11 JAN.

When Politics Replaces Science, Public Health Pays the Price

The flu is surging, vaccine recommendations just got gutted, and somehow we're being told to trust butter over science—here's why you should be worried.

5 min
2025-12-21

What My Patients Taught Me About Gratitude

When two of my patients faced serious health crises, their unexpected response taught me something profound about the science and practice of gratitude—lessons worth carrying into the new year.

5 min
2025-12-14

Blessed or Broken? Rethinking Mental Health Across Cultures

What one culture calls mental illness, others call a divine gift.

5 min
2025-12-07

Why the President's 'Routine' MRI Is Bad Medicine

The President's 'routine' MRI that cost $3,000 and no doctor recommends is a perfect example of how too much healthcare can be just as harmful as too little.

5 min

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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 .