Episodes
Friday Jul 31, 2015
Friday Jul 31, 2015
In episode 67 David interviews Dr. Remington Nevin about the controversial anti-malarial drug mefloquine that for decades was given to soldiers in the US and other militaries because of its ability to kill the malaria parasite, despite knowledge of its toxicity.
Mefloquine is a member of the Quinoline family of drugs, several of which have psychiatric side effects, but Mefloquine became the drug most widely used, until quite recently. This is despite the experience of side effects like nightmares, psychotic outbursts, hallucinations, depersonalization and amnesia.
After discussing the history of the drug’s development, and the type of side effects experienced, David and Dr. Nevin discuss several disturbing possibilities, including that some psychotic episodes such as the massacre by Sgt. Bales of 16 Afghans could have been triggered by the drug. Some people believe that the use of high doses of mefloquine was not a public health measure, but was used to ‘soften up’ prisoners at Guantanamo prior to their torture there. The use of chloroquine drugs like mefloquine in the MK-Ultra CIA drug experiments is discussed. Perhaps most disturbingly of all, there is speculation, based on knowledge of the CIA program, that mefloquine side effects were seen as ‘performance enhancing’, making US soldiers less empathetic, more aggressive and more trigger happy, and worth the severe effects in a minority of soldiers. Dr. Nevin also discusses evidence that mefloquine was never even terribly effective against malaria, and that older drugs, without the toxicity, are actually more effective.
All in all, the interview is explosive.
Tuesday Jul 21, 2015
Tuesday Jul 21, 2015
In Episode 66 David interviews Alice Dreger who is a Professor of Clinical Medical Humanities and Bioethics at Northwestern’ University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, author of “Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex” and the 2015 book, “Galileo’s Middle Finger” which discusses sexual ambiguities and academic suppression, which sometimes are strongly related.
Any discussion of sexuality makes people uncomfortable, and this can start at birth for the parents and doctor of a child born with ambiguous sexual anatomy. Dreger aligned with those who think the child should grow up and make decisions over surgery (unless it’s truly medically necessary at birth) but surgeons see it differently. Things heated up for Dreger when this led her to defend Professor J. Michael Bailey who had written a popular book containing the idea that while some transsexuals appear to be born that way, as boys who act like girls, for example, others are men who find themselves turned on sexually by thinking about being a woman (autogynephilia). Some academics and transsexuals find it offensive that someone would deny that this is innate and oppose this idea. But when the fight broke out Dreger discovered that the ends were justifying the means, and the means were not pretty, even dragging Bailey’s children into the mess. And then the same people dragged Dreger through the mud as well.
Dreger describes other similar situations to David. One that is particularly concerning is the use of the steroid dexamethasone to try to prevent the development of intersexuality in female fetuses, despite the fact that the safety and effectiveness is unproven and, at best, it could help 1 out of 8 fetuses (and you can’t tell at the time you’re giving the drug).
David comments that one of the interesting features of the book is that it describes liberal academics behaving in horribly unethical and dishonorable ways, while most liberals think that those are the tactics of their enemies, such as anti-abortion activists and morality crusaders. Also, most of the situations do not involve a lot of money. Just status and a desire to be seen as having the right answer seem to be enough to unleash some of the worst aspects of humanity, short of violence.
To find out more about “Galileo’s Middle Finger”, and Professor Dreger’s other work, go to her website: http://alicedreger.com
Tuesday Jul 14, 2015
The 1954 Polio Field Trial - 07.14.15
Tuesday Jul 14, 2015
Tuesday Jul 14, 2015
In episode 65 our host David Crowe interviews someone who has recently extensively studied the polio field trial report…from 1957. Yes, from 1957. The flaws in the trial are still important today.
The man being interviewed is none other than David Crowe, who surprises the host by going so far back into medical history, questioning what is seen by the rest of the world as a slam dunk success for modern medicine. That the polio vaccine was safe and effective, that it eliminated the US 1950s era epidemic, and that it eventually led to polio being virtually eliminated around the world. Nice story, except that it is very far from the truth.
Tuesday Jul 07, 2015
Christina Hildebrand on Mandatory Vaccination - 07.07.15
Tuesday Jul 07, 2015
Tuesday Jul 07, 2015
In episode 64 Christina Hildebrand of “A Voice for Choice” talks with David about the recently approved California mandatory vaccination legislation known as SB-277. She explains how she first became concerned about vaccines while doing research as a new mother, the influence of money on politics, the problems with vaccinating for normally mild diseases like measles, and how the legislation will effect children currently in school, or those who will be changing schools. Similar legislation is pending in other states, so this information is of interest to anyone fearing that exemptions from vaccination will be removed.
The website for “A Voice for Choice” is: http://avoiceforchoice.org