Last summer, a man’s brother-in-law suffered a fatal heart attack. The hospital bill for four hours of emergency care: $195,628.
The man’s sister-in-law was ready to pay it. He asked her to wait. He requested an itemized bill with CPT codes, the universal billing codes hospitals use, and fed the whole thing into Claude, an AI chatbot.
Within minutes, Claude found duplicate charges, services billed as “inpatient” even though the patient was never admitted, supply costs inflated by 500% to 2,300% above Medicare rates and charges for procedures that never happened. He cross-checked with ChatGPT. Both AIs agreed. He wrote a six-page letter citing every violation by name.
The hospital dropped the bill to $33,000. An 83% reduction. Zero medical training. A $20 app.
This is amazing.
I have a friend who was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia about nine years ago. He was intubated quite soon after arrival at the emergency room. The bill for the first hospital day was ~$1,000,000. His wife went through the entire itemized hospital bill by hand and found numerous mistakes that were eventually rectified
We’re grateful beyond words that my friend survived and is doing well to this day.
Researchers analysed health data for more than 100,000 people between 2004 and 2018, covering several generations of people aged 50 and above across England, the US and Europe.
They found increasing rates of chronic disease, especially when comparing people born between 1936 and 1945 and those born from 1955 to 1959.
Rates of chronic disease rose across successive generations in all regions, with more recently born adults more likely to have cancer, lung disease, heart issues, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol than their predecessors at the same age.
Although prevalence of type 2 diabetes rose at the same rate across all regions, diagnoses of cancer, heart problems and high cholesterol increased the most in England and Europe, with baby boomers and people in their 50s being 1.5 times more likely to have these issues than their predecessors at the same age.
Levels of grip strength, a good measure of overall muscle strength and healthy ageing, decreased across generations in England and the US, but either increased or remained constant in Europe.
Why is health worse?
Pollution? Poor food quality? Increasing rates of obesity? Increasing social isolation? Over-crowding? Loss of religion?
The main focus of this video is the zoster vaccination. The physician also has hopeful comments about multivitamin-mineral supplementation, omega-3 fatty acid supplementation, and creatine.
I recently hit an improvement plateau with my weight training, so have started supplementing with creatine 5 g/day. It is quite popular these days.
I don’t know if this guy’s legitimate or not. At least what he proposes looks safe to try. It’s interesting that he doesn’t mention the underlying diagnosis of the knee pain. I assume he’s referring to chronic pain unrelated to acute trauma. He says it works to reduce pain at the front of and inside the knee. The suggested exercise is simple and quick. Sounds to good to be true.
While I personally find the evidence overall supports the safety of glyphosate (I feel a risk-based approach is better than a hazard-based approach, there is a wide margin of safety levels, and the best evidence is negative), there is a lot of data that legitimately can be seen as concerning. There is also the question of industry influence in the research. A study from 2000 showing glyphosate is safe was recently retracted because of undisclosed industry funding. It is therefore no wonder that the public remains confused and divided on the safety of glyphosate.
As it stands, I think the regulatory agencies are correct in continuing to approve glyphosate. It is likely safe and better than all the alternatives. However, more and better research is always welcome. This is definitely an area where we would benefit from highly rigorous large consensus studies designed to resolve continued scientific disagreement.
I encourage you to do your own research and draw your own conclusions. I’m busy with other things now.
I consider infectious disease specialists to be, in general, the smartest non-procedural medical specialists. They are often called in to consult on a hospitalized patient who’s already been evaluated by three or four other doctors, but just isn’t responding to treatment and may have an underlying atypical infection.
Dr. Mark Crislip is a retired infections disease doc who is highly intelligent and a good writer. I don’t know him personally but have had the pleasure of working with a few like him throughout my career (shout out to Dr. Kara Asbury). Here’s what he thinks of the intrusion of AI – artificial intelligence – into medical practice.
I really think we are heading into a world where doctors are going to be mediocre at best. There are many articles about how kids today (remember, I am an old geezer) are unable to read books or even sit through a whole movie. You wonder how they are going to master, yes, master, the immense amount of information, all in dense, dry, complicated, technical textbooks, required just to get through medical school, much less become proficient in whatever medical specialty field they choose.
Now? All the cognitive processing will be offloaded into AI. And people will take the path of least resistance, in the process acquiring only the facade of understanding. And if the AI hallucinates? They are not going to know enough to recognize it.
So there will be three kinds of doctors slowing evolving into one.
A few old geezers like me who will mostly avoid AI. I say mostly. I wouldn’t mind if AI generated my billing codes. But that is it. But their medical mind will remain sharp and be wielded like a samurai blade.
Most current MDs will take the path of least resistance, use AI and their mind will be increasingly rusty and dull and at some point be useless.
And those brought up on AI? Their minds will be plastic sporks. Enshittified from the start.
I recommend you read the whole thing, especially if you’re a physician. Plus he takes a few jabs at EMRs (electronic medical records).
Is this real or is she AI-generated? How can she be so articulate? I saw little evidence of editing. Was she reading a teleprompter?
I wonder how I would have reacted to this if I were 40, 50, or 60 years old. I’m 71 now, and it made me tear up at the end, and thereafter for many minutes, thinking about my wife, my life, my children, and the time I have left before I shuffle off this mortal coil.
It may be impossible for folks under 40 or 50 to think seriously about these issues.
—–Steve Parker, M.D.
PS: I can help you maximize your lifespan and “healthspan.”
Yes…..according to Dr. Rhonda Patrick. She’s not a physician. Her Ph. D. is in biomedical science. I’ve listened to several of her podcasts and think that she does a generally good job of keeping her recommendations science-based. Her supplementation recommendations assume you’re generally healthy, eating a healthy diet (e.g., Mediterranean!), and exercising regularly, including some vigorous exercise like HIIT (high intensity interval training.
Here’s the list:
Vitamin D
Omega-3 fatty acid (1.5-3 g/day)
Standard multivitamin (ideally containing lutein and zeaxanthin) (she mentions Centrum Silver)
Lutein (if not in your multivitamin)
Zeaxanthin (if not in your multivitamin)
Magnesium
Melatonin 1.5-3 mg/day, 2-3 hours before bedtime
Creatine monohydrate, at least 5 g/d, 10 g is better
Ubiquinol
Sulforaphane
I’m not very familiar with sulforaphane. Two commenters at YouTube wrote that she likes the Avmacol brand. PreserVision AREDS 2 formula of multivitamins contains zeaxanthin and lutein. You might want to compare that that product to Centrum Silver. In another video Dr. Patrick said the dose of vitamin D is 4,000 IU. I say the dose may depend on your latitude and amount of sun exposure. I’ve heard for years that magnesium oxide and magnesium chloride are very poorly absorbed; magnesium glycinate, citrate, taurate, and malate are better absorbed. So the latter are the preferred magnesium forms. Dr. Patrick also says magnesium is better absorbed if your total daily dose is divided; e.g., take half your daily dose in the AM, half in the PM.
I’m sure Dr Patrick goes into details of these items at her YouTube channel (FoundMyFitness) and podcasts (FoundMyFitness and The Aliquot).
Many times in my career I have sat across from a patient who expressed that they are getting serious about their health, and then rattle off a list of things that they are doing to improve their health – all mostly worthless. I do not blame them – they are victims of a self-help, supplement, and wellness industry that has completely mislead them. A typical list might include: eating only organic, avoiding GMOs, taking daily vitamins, eating low-carb, and using a sauna (or perhaps cryochambers). Sometimes they throw in fully magical interventions, like feng shui or reiki. In short, they invest a lot of time and money into interventions that will not make them more healthy, and distract them from the things we know will.
If you want to improve your health and longevity the data suggests there are five things that are of primary importance (in terms of lifestyle) – eat a well-rounded balanced diet, get sufficient quality sleep, don’t smoke, limit alcohol intake, and exercise regularly. Obviously, getting good medical care is also very important. Get regular checkups (including for dental health), and address any specific health issues you have, including mental health.
The good news is – there is not mystery to good health. The lifestyle factors I list above are the 99 percenter, meaning that together that have the overwhelming largest effect on your health. So stop worrying about the 1%, there is no magical “superfood” our there, no hack, and no secret.
So, who ya gonna believe. An M.D. neurologist or a Ph.D. in biomedical science?
Photo of the retina at the back of the eyeball, where macular degeneration occurs
Age-related macular degeneration is the #1 cause of blindness high-income societies. A recent study found that metformin use by type 2 diabetics at least 50 years old reduced the incidence of macular degeneration by ~35% over the course of five years. The authors consider their results preliminary and, as usual, recommend further study.
Macular degeneration can be difficult to reverse or treat once it takes hold. As with many illnesses, prevention is better.
Metformin is among the top drug therapies for type 2 diabetes, but it has many competitors on the rise. If macular degeneration runs in your family, this study suggests it may be a good idea to stick with metformin.
On a December evening in 2020, [President Donald] Trump granted clemency to Philip Esformes, a South Florida nursing home operator serving a 20-year sentence for orchestrating what federal prosecutors called the largest individual healthcare fraud scheme ever prosecuted in American history. The commutation freed Esformes from prison after he had served just over four years, though it left his conviction and roughly $44 million in financial penalties intact.
***
The first warning signs emerged in 2006 when Esformes and associates connected to Larkin Community Hospital reached a civil settlement with federal and Florida authorities. The $15.4 million agreement resolved allegations involving kickbacks and admitting patients for medically unnecessary treatment. Though the settlement required no admission of wrongdoing, prosecutors later pointed to this episode as evidence that suspicious conduct continued unchecked.
A decade later, federal authorities brought criminal charges that painted a portrait of systematic fraud on an unprecedented scale. In July 2016, prosecutors indicted Esformes on multiple counts related to what they described as a roughly $1.3 billion scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid. The government’s case detailed an intricate operation designed to maximize profits by manipulating patient care and gaming federal reimbursement rules.
According to court filings, Esformes orchestrated a system that moved beneficiaries among hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and assisted living centers in carefully timed patterns. These transfers satisfied Medicare eligibility requirements such as mandatory three-day hospital stays and 100-day skilled nursing limits, allowing facilities to restart billing cycles regardless of whether patients actually needed the care. Prosecutors alleged that medical decisions took a back seat to financial calculations.
The scheme allegedly extended beyond unnecessary services. Federal authorities claimed Esformes paid kickbacks and bribes to physicians and physician assistants who referred patients to his network. These illegal payments flowed through intermediaries and were disguised as legitimate business expenses. Some payments were allegedly hidden as charitable donations, prosecutors said, while others appeared in fake contracts and invoices designed to conceal their true purpose.
Parker here. That’s just one way to get filthy rich in the healthcare industry. I wonder how much money Esformes got to keep in exchange for his four years in prison. I wonder if Esformes paid a substantial “donation” in exchange for his clemency.
I quit running my own medical practice in 2001 because I couldn’t make a decent living at it while following the rules.
Diabetic Mediterranean Diet 