Conversations on Health: How We Get There - with Stephani Shelton

Stephani Shelton
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Conversations On Health: How We Get There - with Stephani Shelton is a podcast series about health care, health care systems and the connections we need to make them better. Each podcast will explore a different aspect of health or health care. Or a different country’s health care system as it compares to ours in the US. As a veteran reporter - I want to know why so many Americans still don’t have access to the comprehensive health care so normal in other advanced countries? How are health systems dealing with higher costs and changing demographics? And if, after the disastrous response to COVID 19, the US and other nations are now prepared for another major public health crisis.

  1. SEP 16

    Episode 37: An Emergency Update Conversation with Autism Expert Amy Wetherby, PhD, Florida State University (FSU)

    UPDATE 9/22/25; There was no real study released in late September, as expected, on a potential causal relationship between autism and Tylenol. Instead we got, basically, a rambling statement from President Trump (with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.at his side) warning that pregnant women should ask their doctors before taking Tylenol. (Already a protocol). The President  – citing no evidence - told pregnant women  just “tough it out”. I’m calling this an emergency update on autism – as we wait for the new causal studies authorized by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – the Secretary of Health and Human Services. So far, according to a recent Reuters report,  researchers have submitted more than 100 proposals for RFK Jr’s 50 million dollar study of autism’s causes – essentially mining the CDC’s large data base. There’s a separate review in progress on vaccine safety as well as the relationship if any to autism. Secretary Kennedy originally made the unlikely  promise to have definitive findings by September – that’s this month  - but has now stretched that much further out. Earlier this month Kennedy appeared before the Senate Finance Committee for what evolved into a highly contentious hearing. Mostly on vaccines, changes at the CDC  – and autism. There’s an excerpt in the podcast. So I’m bringing back Dr. Amy Wetherby - one of the top US autism experts - for this emergency update. To set you straight on the facts. The science. What we know now about autism’s causes – which is quite a lot. And how early intervention can change an autistic child’s life. Dr. Wetherby was my guest last June on Episode 34. Here’s the link to that much longer and more detailed podcast. https://youtu.be/5EMedABGCrU Amy Wetherby is a Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences and Director of the Autism Institute in the College of Medicine at Florida State University. She’s also a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association with over 45 years of clinical experience and the Executive Director of the FSU Center for Autism and Related Disabilities. Amy is also co-developer of the websites Autism Navigator and Baby Navigator - which can provide a huge amount of help to the parents and teachers of autistic children. This update was recorded September 12, 2025. I’ll add to these notes if something coming out of HHS or the CDC substantially  changes anything we discussed.   The Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (statement) YouTube video link:  https://youtu.be/0RTTN5Yh4lc Channel link: @conversationsonhealthhowwe4827

    34 min

  2. AUG 19

    Episode 36: A Conversation with General Practitioner Bohumil Seifert, MD, PhD, Assoc. Professor, Prague, Czech Republic

    The cornerstone of any healthcare system is the general practitioner or GP. In the US we’ve renamed the GP to the rather cold sounding “primary care doctor”. Perhaps because so few of us still have that old multi-year connection with our doctor or perhaps because of the way our huge health insurance companies function. In the last podcast – Episode 35 - we talked about the UK’s still ailing health system – the NHS – a year after the Labor Government took over. Not much change yet but a recently released 10 year plan envisions most standard health care centralized in neighborhoods at the GP level. Including the mushrooming varieties of medical imaging. This doesn’t sound particularly revolutionary – especially if you live in the Czech Republic. Health care there still revolves around the general practitioner. So we’re going to meet a long time GP in this episode – who also teaches and is involved in many international health care projects. In addition to his MD, Dr. Bohumil Seifert also holds a PhD and is an Associate Professor at the Institute of General Practice, First Faculty of Medicine at Charles University.  He headed that department for 14 years - until 2023. Dr. Seifert now spends half his time practicing in central Prague – the Czech Republic’s capital. The rest of his time is spent in international activities and research, much of it for the World Health Organization and WONCA - the World Organization of Family Doctors. We used first names in this interview – as is my custom on this podcast.       YouTube Episode Link:     Dr. David Marx Episode #1  https://youtu.be/io3rVfvYgj4

    56 min

  3. JUL 15

    Episode #35: A Follow-up Conversation with David Hunter, Emeritus Professor, Newcastle University on the UK’s Still Troubled NHS.

    The United Kingdom’s National Health Service was founded in 1948 and is considered the mother of all government run health care systems - with Sweden’s slightly later plan for universal coverage just behind. We’ve profiled both systems on this podcast series. But we’re going back to take another look at the NHS --almost exactly one year after labor won a huge parliamentary victory. And the new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his new Secretary for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting declared the NHS was “broken” and promised to fix it. All health systems are having trouble adjusting to rising costs and demographic changes but perhaps the faltering NHS has gotten the most notoriety. Health care waiting lists as long as 2 years, doctor shortages and strikes, no hospital beds available for emergency patients – it’s a very long list. Under the government’s recent “Spending Review” – somewhat like the annual US budget outline – the NHS got the lion’s share of the available money – along with the military. And a 10 year plan emphasizes moving to neighborhood health centers for most healthcare instead of it being hospital-based. But what about immediate help for people?  Are there any improvements in this first year? For the answers – I went back to the UK’s David Hunter - who explained how the UK system works in Episode11. He’s Emeritus Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University and also Emeritus Professor at Durham University. His long list of endeavors also includes the recent addition of board member at “Ways to Wellness”.  Which tries to reduce health inequalities. As you watch or listen - you’ll notice a lot of similarities to the US right now. Think Elon Musk’s DOGE and its abrupt firing of so many health policy related government workers. And of course our unending debate about taxation. This episode was shot, recorded and edited in Prague, Czech Republic before Labor released its 10 year plan to “fundamentally rewire” the NHS. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/l00578wn https://www.waystowellness.org.uk/ Episode 11: David Hunter on the NHS: https://youtu.be/jqrNfpxSayA Episode 18 – Catharina Barkman – Sweden #1:  https://youtu.be/Y4pTu_XcSqA Episode 19 – Catharina Barkman – Sweden #2:  https://youtu.be/2vdA41ckoVA

    31 min

  4. JUN 17

    Episode 34: A Conversation with Autism Expert Amy Wetherby, PhD, Florida State University (FSU)

    What do we actually know about autism? Not enough according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – the Health and Human Services Secretary.  He’s promised an initial 50 million dollars for his plan to find out what exactly causes autism. With an unusually short turnaround for research proposals . Remember Kennedy first promised he’d have all the answers by September but then extended that to March and now it appears by the funding guidelines it will be a year or more. Still much faster than research norms. Many health experts fear HHS will just cherry pick the answers RFK Jr. has pushed for years - including the long-debunked idea vaccines cause autism. The reality is there is already a solid base of data about autism’s cause. And some very successful methods to greatly improve a child’s ability to overcome it. When I decided to do this episode on autism – i didn’t have to look far to find  one of the top experts in the country – Amy Wetherby, PhD. She just happens to be my cousin. Amy is a Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences and Director of the Autism Institute in the College of Medicine at Florida State University. She’s also a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association with over 45 years of clinical experience and the Executive Director of the FSU Center for Autism and Related Disabilities. Amy has served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee for Educational Interventions for Children with Autism and her list of credits and activities goes on and on. She is also co-developer of the websites Autism Navigator  and Baby Navigator for parents and teachers which we discuss extensively on the podcast. This interview was recorded in early June of 2025; if there are major updates from RFK Jr. – I’ll add them to the show notes also. I learned so much from my conversation with Amy Wetherby – I hope you will also. The podcast is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5EMedABGCrU

    59 min

  5. MAY 20

    Episode 33: A Conversation with Dr. Anurag Gupta, Tembo Health, on Improving Dementia Care

    It’s no secret our population is aging fast. According to the US  Census Bureau, 10,000 Baby Boomers hit that 65 landmark year each day. In fact 2025 is predicted to be “peak 65” demographically – with more than 11,000 Boomers crossing the daily line. Unfortunately as we age – more of us develop dementia and Alzheimer’s – with most of the associated costs paid by Medicare. It’s estimated that for Alzheimer’s care alone – costs are as much as 2.8 times higher than for other seniors. So Medicare has begun an experimental program called Guide. Partnering with some private, digitally oriented companies to create better dementia outcomes -  both personally for older people and their caretakers and financially for Medicare. One of those companies is Tembo Health – founded and run by Dr. Anurag Gupta. He’s a practicing emergency physician with both an MBA and an additional degree and board certification in Clinical Infomatics. And lots and lots of real world experience at top rated hospitals. The concept of public-private partnering in healthcare isn’t new; but it’s certainly not every venture capitalist- financed start-up which hopes to make its mark with dementia care. So here’s my really useful conversation with Dr. Anurag Gupta: https://www.tembo.health/ https://www.cms.gov/priorities/innovation/innovation-models/guide YouTube Episode link: https://youtu.be/3Dw1rnp8Rc0

    46 min

  6. APR 15

    Episode 32: A Conversation on Pain, Addiction and Prevention with Addiction Specialist Dr. Arun Gupta

    Most of you know something about the opioid crisis. It’s considered one of the most devastating public health catastrophes of our time. Just to summarize briefly – the first wave of deaths began in the mid 1990s when Purdue Pharma’s newly approved pain drug OxyContin was pushed to doctors. Purdue had lied to the FDA, saying OxyContin was less addictive than other opioids. It was, actually, even more addictive. Then came the wave of deaths from many of those addicts switching to “street” heroin. And then, as we all know, came the synthetic opioid fentanyl. 2024 figures aren’t yet finalized but even though there has been a decline in deaths - the US continues to have the highest rate in the world. With that as the background – I just had a very illuminating discussion with Dr. Arun Gupta. He started as an internist.  But ultimately, he got so upset about the plight of his addicted patients in his mostly rural Michigan practice that he became a specialized addiction doctor. Then he wrote a book laying out the history of opioids and what needs to be done to help patients recover.  This is a conversation I don’t think you want to miss. Note: all episodes are also available in video form on YouTube https://thepreventableepidemicbook.com/ (website is being updated) https://www.samhsa.gov/substance-use/treatment/overdose-prevention/opioid-overdose-reversal   (NARCAN etc.)

    51 min

  7. MAR 18

    Episode 31: A Conversation on How NOT to Pay Medical Bills – Legally - with Author Frank Lobb

    Have you ever been hit by a huge medical bill when you thought your health insurance would be covering most of it? Do you know that unpaid medical bills are one of the top reasons Americans declare personal bankruptcy? Well, meet Frank Lobb. He’s a retired navy pilot whose later managerial background in law and compliance had nothing to do with health care. But some years ago Lobb had a very frustrating and ultimately tragic fight with his wife’s insurance company. And he began researching health insurers, personal medical bills and your rights under the law. He’s now written four books on what he’s learned – the latest  - just recently published – is called “The Big Lie in My Healthcare Bill”.  Here’s our conversation -- and I think you’ll learn a lot from Frank Lobb about how you can protect yourself and your family. I certainly did! Note: all episodes are also available in video form on YouTube

    45 min

  8. FEB 18

    Episode 30: A Conversation on Obesity with Dr. Naser E. Gharaibeh, Medical Director, Valley Health System Center for Weight and Wellness, New Jersey

    UPDATE: The Trump administration has decided Medicare will NOT pay for the popular GLP-1 drugs just for weight loss. It would have cost the government nearly $40 Billion over 10 years. Perhaps the hottest, most divisive topic in health care is obesity. Which in the US appears to have stabilized in 2024 at about 40% of adults. Is obesity a disease or a lifestyle result? How does it affect overall health and what diseases can it cause? Who should take the expensive new GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Wegovy? And perhaps the most divisive issue - who should pay for those drugs – and how.  Get ready for a great conversation with tons of useful information from my guest Dr. Naser Gharaibeh, MD, CPE, DABOM, NCMP – who heads the Valley Health System Center for Weight and Wellness in New Jersey. Dr. Gharaibeh is board certified in obesity medicine as well as endocrinology, diabetes, metabolism and internal medicine. Note: all episodes are also available in video form on YouTube

    46 min
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Conversations On Health: How We Get There - with Stephani Shelton is a podcast series about health care, health care systems and the connections we need to make them better. Each podcast will explore a different aspect of health or health care. Or a different country’s health care system as it compares to ours in the US. As a veteran reporter - I want to know why so many Americans still don’t have access to the comprehensive health care so normal in other advanced countries? How are health systems dealing with higher costs and changing demographics? And if, after the disastrous response to COVID 19, the US and other nations are now prepared for another major public health crisis.

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