Fixing Healthcare Podcast

This Diving Deep episode with Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr looks at U.S. healthcare across three time horizons: past, present and future.

The hosts use 2025 as a case study in disruption without reform, 2026 as a year of mounting pressure and near-term transition, and the coming decade as a period when generative AI will fundamentally reshape how medicine is practiced.

Looking back at 2025

Dr. Pearl argues that despite political upheaval, executive orders, agency shakeups and constant headlines, American healthcare ended the year largely unchanged. Just more expensive and less trusted. He walks through five domains where chaos dominated but improvement failed to materialize. The throughline? Intense disruption produced little structural change in care delivery, affordability or outcomes.

Turning to 2026

The conversation shifts from stagnation to pressure. Pearl identifies two forces that make inaction increasingly risky: the midterm elections and accelerating healthcare costs. He outlines how that pressure is likely to shape behavior across the system — not through sweeping reform, but through targeted, politically visible moves.

Looking further ahead

Pearl describes how generative AI could alter medicine at a profound level, especially through the convergence of AI and surgical robotics. He argues that autonomous surgery, once the realm of science fiction, is now technologically plausible and could upend long-standing hierarchies between cognitive and procedural specialties.

Helpful links

Healthcare In 2025: A Year Of Chaos, Confusion — But Little Improvement (Forbes)

Healthcare In 2026: How Much Change Should We Expect? (Forbes)

Will Your Next Surgeon Be A Robot? (Forbes)

Monthly Musings on American Healthcare (RobertPearlMD.com)

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine.” Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #204: Why healthcare chaos didn’t lead to change & what comes next appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

As part of Season 11 of Fixing Healthcare, which spotlights influential voices with large followings and direct insight into how real people experience medicine, Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr welcome back medical historian Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris for her third appearance on the show, this time joined by her husband and creative partner, illustrator Adrian Teal.

Together, Lindsey and Adrian bring a rare combination of scholarly depth, storytelling and massive digital reach. Lindsey’s work on medical history has captivated millions across books, television and social platforms, while Adrian’s instantly recognizable art has built a massive following online. Their latest collaboration is the children’s book Dead Ends: Flukes, Flops & Failures That Sparked Medical Marvels, which sits at the center of this wide-ranging and unexpectedly personal conversation.

The episode begins with a deceptively simple premise: medicine advances not in straight lines but through failure. Lindsey explains her long-standing fascination with scientific dead ends and why medicine often hides them from public view. Dead Ends, she says, was written to show children (and adults) that changing guidance is not a sign of incompetence, but evidence of learning in real time.

Adrian adds that humor, exaggeration and even “gross-out” visuals aren’t just entertainment. They’re how curiosity is sparked and how complex medical ideas become memorable.

The discussion unfolds across centuries of medical missteps and breakthroughs.

Lindsey and Adrian share favorite stories from the book, including early experiments with galvanism, the guillotine’s unexpected medical legacy and how inventions routinely escape the intentions of their creators.

One standout example is Martin Couney, an outsider who used a Coney Island sideshow to fund incubator care for premature infants. His invention would go on to save thousands of lives even though the medical establishment initially dismissed the technology.

Shifting from history to the present, Lindsey and Adrian reflect on what past failures teach us about regulation, ethics and risk today. While modern safeguards exist for good reason (many historical experiments exploited vulnerable populations) the group wrestles with how to encourage responsible innovation without freezing progress. They also explore how public trust erodes when scientific uncertainty is poorly communicated, especially in a media environment where misinformation travels faster than nuance.

The most personal segment arrives when Lindsey discusses her own breast cancer diagnosis, alongside Adrian’s experience with prostate cancer. Their stories ground the episode firmly in Season 11’s focus on lived experience.

For listeners interested in how history, art and personal experience illuminate today’s healthcare debates, this episode offers a vivid reminder that progress is rarely tidy and never inevitable.

For more unfiltered conversation, listen to the full episode and explore these helpful links.

Helpful links

Children’s book: Dead Ends: Flukes, Flops & Failures That Sparked Medical Marvels

Book: The Butchering Art

Book: The Facemaker

ChatGPT, MD (Pearl’s newest book)



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Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #203: Dead ends, failures & the unlikely path to medical progress appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Dr. Robert Pearl’s latest opinion poll, part of his “Monthly Musings” newsletter, asked readers about their health goals and habits for 2026 (note: studies show most Americans have already quit their resolutions for the year). The result? People want to eat better, workout more and lose weight. And yet, the behaviors that lead to those outcomes are cited as the most difficult things to maintain: good sleep, time management, stress reduction.

In this episode, Pearls joins cohost Jeremy Corr and cardiologist and burnout expert Jonathan Fisher for an “Unfiltered” conversation about why so many resolutions, intentions and goals fail.

The conversation quickly evolves into an evidence-based exploration of human behavior, motivation and the modern forces working against sustained change.

Drawing on psychology, neuroscience and lived experience, the trio explores why knowledge alone rarely changes behavior, how digital environments hijack attention and emotion, and why willpower may be the most overrated concept in self-improvement.

Along the way, the conversation touches on doom scrolling, burnout, fear, parenting in a digital age and the quiet erosion of habits that support mental and physical health. The result is a candid and deeply human examination of why change is so hard … and what might actually help.

Some of the key ideas discussed:

Resolutions don’t fail because people are ignorant or lack willpower. Most people already know what they “should” do to improve their health or happiness. The real challenge is not information, but the gap between intention and action.

Willpower is a fragile strategy. The group challenges the idea that success depends on moral strength or discipline. Instead, they emphasize designing environments and systems that make healthy choices easier.

Doom scrolling as emotional regulation. Dr. Fisher describes how endless scrolling often isn’t about boredom, but about managing discomfort, anxiety or feeling low.

Identity shapes behavior more than goals. Habits are easier to sustain when they align with how people see themselves. Someone who identifies as “an athlete” behaves differently than someone who is merely trying to exercise more.

Burnout is both systemic and personal. While organizational pressures matter, Jonathan argues that individual boundaries, values and behavior patterns also play a role in chronic exhaustion and disengagement.

Fear is rising. Robbie reflects on the paradox of growing anxiety despite improvements in crime rates, employment and longevity — and points to social isolation as a key driver.

Phones are changing how we relate to each other. Jeremy raises the now-familiar sight of groups sitting together while staring at screens. The three discuss what this means for connection, attention and the ability to tolerate boredom, especially for children watching adults model behavior.

In classic Unfiltered fashion, the episode resists easy answers. Instead, it invites listeners to rethink how change actually happens: not through sheer determination, but through awareness, structure and a more honest understanding of human nature.

For more unfiltered conversation, listen to the full episode and explore these related resources:

‘Just One Heart’ (Jonathan Fisher’s newest book)

‘ChatGPT, MD’ (Robert Pearl’s newest book)

Monthly Musings on American Healthcare (Robert Pearl’s newsletter)

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Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #202: Willpower, doom scrolling & the illusion of control appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In this week’s episode of Medicine: The Truth, hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr look closely at the stories and controversies shaping U.S. healthcare at the start of 2026.

From a severe flu season and resurgent vaccine-preventable diseases to drug pricing, autism research and the growing role of AI in medicine, the episode offers a data-driven look at where American healthcare is headed.

The show opens with warnings about infectious disease. A dangerous H3N2 flu strain is driving hospitalizations, particularly among children, while measles and whooping cough outbreaks continue to spread among unvaccinated populations.

To Dr. Pearl, these trends do not appear random. They reflect falling vaccination rates, weakened public-health messaging and growing political interference at federal agencies tasked with protecting the public.

From there, the conversation turns to vaccine policy itself. Recent changes at the CDC (including a sharply reduced childhood vaccine schedule and new recommendations against universal newborn hepatitis B vaccination) raise serious concerns. Pearl explains why comparisons to countries like Denmark (with its reduced vaccine schedule) are deeply misleading, and why abandoning universal vaccination in a fragmented U.S. healthcare system risks reversing decades of progress.

Here’s a look at other must-know stories from this episode of Medicine: The Truth:

Positive vaccine evidence: New CDC data show significant reductions in emergency visits among children who received COVID vaccines, reinforcing their safety and effectiveness.

Pandemic lessons for children: Pediatric obesity rose during COVID lockdowns, while mental health outcomes improved after schools reopened, underscoring the tradeoffs of prolonged closures.

Drug pricing deals with manufacturers: The administration’s agreements with pharmaceutical companies apply narrowly to government purchases and exclude many high-cost drugs, limiting their overall impact.

First oral GLP-1 approved: The FDA cleared the first pill version of a GLP-1 weight-loss drug, offering convenience but likely remaining unaffordable until prices fall closer to $200 per month.

Autism research update: Rising autism prevalence is driven largely by broader diagnostic criteria and awareness. Large studies continue to show no link to vaccines or acetaminophen, while new research points to strong genetic factors and distinct autism subtypes.

ACA exchange subsidy uncertainty: Congress has yet to prevent looming premium increases for millions of exchange enrollees. Pearl argues for avoiding coverage cliffs and capping household contributions as a share of income.

Polypharmacy in seniors: One in eight Medicare Part D beneficiaries now takes eight or more medications, increasing the risk of side effects, falls and hospitalizations in a fragmented system.

New dietary guidelines: Federal recommendations now emphasize animal protein alongside stronger warnings against sugar and ultra-processed foods, a shift that may conflict with earlier public-health messaging.

AI’s expanding role in healthcare: OpenAI’s tools increasingly integrate health data from electronic records and consumer apps, signaling how quickly generative AI is becoming part of medical decision-making.

Medicare and AI oversight: Traditional Medicare is moving toward AI-assisted prior authorization for certain procedures, a response to fraud and low-value care that Pearl says is inevitable as costs continue to rise.

Tune in to Medicine: The Truth for more fact-based coverage and analysis of healthcare’s biggest stories.

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of the new book “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine” about the impact of AI on the future of medicine.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post MTT #102: Vaccines under fire, rising disease & the cost of politics in medicine appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Mark Cuban approaches healthcare the same way he approaches every industry he enters: by assuming something essential is missing and then asking who benefits from keeping it that way. In American medicine, he believes that missing ingredient is transparency. Not better messaging, not smarter incentives, but simple visibility into how prices are set, who gets paid and who gets taken advantage of.

Cuban is a lifelong healthcare outsider. He is a billionaire entrepreneur, NBA championship team owner and longtime Shark Tank investor. That’s what makes him the perfect guest for Season 11 of Fixing Healthcare with cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr.

This season’s guests have massive online audiences, but their value isn’t just reach. It’s their ability to listen closely to what millions of patients are experiencing, then translate those insights back into the broader medical conversation. Few guests embody that better than Cuban.

He has quickly become one of the system’s most incisive critics by paying attention to what patients, employers and clinicians repeatedly say is broken. That mindset led to the creation of Cost Plus Drugs, a pharmacy built on an idea that sounds radical only because healthcare has drifted so far from it. Show patients the actual cost of a medication, add a flat 15% markup and eliminate the opaque middlemen who thrive in the dark.

In this conversation, Cuban explains how a cold email from a physician opened his eyes to how hidden pharmaceutical pricing had become and why opacity itself became the opportunity.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE INTERVIEW

Why drug prices are detached from reality. Cuban breaks down how widely used medications, including GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars per month despite far lower manufacturing costs. The driver, he argues, is not innovation or scarcity, but a system dominated by pharmacy benefit managers whose rebate structures reward insurers and intermediaries while excluding patients.

How patients bear the greatest financial harm. With concrete examples, Cuban explains how people in deductible phases, especially those on ACA plans, often pay full retail prices while rebates flow elsewhere. Costs are spread across millions of plan holders, but the financial pain lands on the people who actually need care.

Why healthcare’s complexity is intentional. From fax machines to prior authorization delays, Cuban argues that administrative friction is not accidental. It protects incumbents, drains clinician time and forces providers into the role of “subprime lenders,” all while patients struggle to navigate a system designed to obscure accountability.

What he tells CEOs behind closed doors. Cuban outlines the first questions he asks corporate leaders about their pharmacy benefits, why most are not receiving the rebates they believe they are and how audits are often structured to reveal as little as possible. Transparency, he says, is the first step toward leverage.

A blueprint beyond pharmaceuticals. The discussion extends into hospitals, insurance design and employer-based coverage, including Cuban’s work on cost-plus wellness contracts that publish negotiated rates so others can replicate them. His goal is not dominance. It is forcing the system to respond by making its incentives visible.

Throughout the episode, Cuban’s message is blunt and consistent. Healthcare does not need more jargon, better marketing or marginal tweaks. It needs sunlight. Once pricing, incentives and risk are exposed, many of the system’s most entrenched practices become much harder to justify.

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Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #201: Mark Cuban’s blunt diagnosis of what’s broken in healthcare appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.