Discover
The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine
291 Episodes
Reverse
Date: January 17, 2026 Reference: Casey et al. RSI Investigators and the Pragmatic Critical Care Research Group. Ketamine or Etomidate for Tracheal Intubation of Critically Ill Adults. NEJM. 2025 Dec Guest Skeptic: Dr. Scott Weingart is an ED Intensivist from New York. He did fellowships in Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, and ECMO. Scott is best […]
The post SGEM#500: Don’t You Want Me – Etomidate or Ketamine for Induction of Critically Ill Patients first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Date: January 5, 2026 Reference: Robblee et al. 2025 guideline update to acute treatment of migraine for adults in the emergency department: The American Headache Society evidence assessment of parenteral pharmacotherapies. Headache 2025 Dec Happy New Year, SGEMers! What better way to start 2026 than with an SGEM Xtra about migraine headaches? We were originally […]
The post SGEM Xtra: Hit Me with Your Best Block – 2025 AHS ED Migraine Guidelines first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Date: December 23, 2025 Reference: Todd et al. Antihypertensive prescription is associated with improved 30-day outcomes for discharged hypertensive emergency department patients. J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open. 2024 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Mike Pallaci is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University and a Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at Ohio University […]
The post SGEM#499: Under Pressure – To Start Antihypertensives in Hypertensive ED Patients at Discharge first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Date: November 27, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Justin Morgenstern is an emergency physician and the creator of the #FOAMed project called www.First10EM.com Case: You are looking after a 65-year-old man who appears to be in septic shock. He presented after five days of fever and cough, and is now severely lethargic and hypotensive on arrival. You […]
The post SGEM#498: Andromeda – Cap Refill Time for Personalized Sepsis Treatment first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Date: Dec 17, 2025 Reference: Pagnini F, et al. Unexpected events and prosocial behavior: the Batman effect. npj Mental Health Research. November 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Dennis Ren is a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Children’s National in Washington, DC. You may also know him as the host of SGEM Peds. Case: It’s been a dark, […]
The post SGEM#497: We Could be Heroes – Just with a Little Help from Batman first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Reference: Binder ZW et al. “Ultrasound-Guided Nerve Block for Pediatric Femur Fractures in the Emergency Department: A Prospective Multi-Center Study.” Academic Emergency Medicine, 2025. Date: November 24, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Lauren Westafer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Baystate. She is the co-founder […]
The post SGEM#496: Hangin’ Tough after a Nerve Block for Pediatric Femur Fractures first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Date: December 4, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Jestin Carlson – Long-time listener, second-time guest. Reference: Reinaud et al. Reporting of Noninferiority Margins on ClinicalTrials.gov: A Systematic Review. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Case: You are working with a resident who asks you about a new thrombolytic they heard about on the SGEM for acute ischemic stroke. […]
The post SGEM#495: Tell Me Lies, Tell Me Sweet Little Lies – Reporting of Noninferiority Margins on ClinicalTrials.gov. first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Date: November 26, 2025 Reference: Ray et al. Emergency Department Visit Frequency Among Adults with Chronic Abdominal Pain: Findings From the 2023 US National Health Interview Survey. AEM November 2025. Guest Skeptic: Dr. Kirsty Challen is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine in the UK and an evidence-based medicine advocate. She’s a seasoned knowledge translator with […]
The post SGEM#494: Another day for you and me in pain – Chronic Abdominal Pain and ED visits first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Date: November 8, 2025 Reference: Millin M, et al., Prehospital Trauma Compendium: Prehospital Management of Spinal Cord Injuries – A NAEMSP Comprehensive Review and Analysis of the Literature, Prehospital Emergency Care, Aug 2025. Guest Skeptic: Clay Odell, BSN, NRP, RN, is a Paramedic Firefighter with Newport (NH) Fire-EMS. He is a past Chief of the […]
The post SGEM#493: You Can’t Hold Me Down with Spinal Motion Restrictions first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Date: November 12, 2025 Reference: Taccone et al. Restrictive vs Liberal Transfusion Strategy in Patients With Acute Brain Injury The TRAIN Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA 2024 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Alex Weiler is an Emergency Department staff physician in the Peterborough Regional Health Centre and is an associate professor with Queen’s University Department of Family Medicine. […]
The post SGEM#492: Give Blood – To Anemic Patients with Acute Brain Injuries first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Date: October 17, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Kristen Panthagani is an emergency medicine resident and Yale Emergency Scholar at Yale New Haven Hospital. She’s a physician-scientist, having completed her MD/PhD at Baylor College of Medicine. She’s also well known as a science communicator, creator of You Can Know Things which helps explain science in a […]
The post SGEM Xtra: Talkin’ Bout a Revolution…Training Health Communicators first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Date: October 30, 2025 Reference: Boes et al. Prevalence of violence against health care workers among agitated patients in an urban emergency department. October 2025 AEM Guest Skeptic: Dr. Suchismita Datta. She is an Assistant Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the NYU Grossman Long Island Hospital Campus. Case: […]
The post SGEM#491: Prevalence of violence against health care workers among agitated patients in an urban emergency department first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Reference: Boutin A, et al. Removable Boot vs Casting of Toddler’s Fractures: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Pediatr. Published April 2025. Date: July 23, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Andrew (Andy) Tagg is an Emergency Physician with a special interest in education and lifelong learning. He is the co-founder and website lead of Don’t Forget the […]
The post SGEM#490: These (Removable) Boots are Made for Walking first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Date: October 10, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Sergey Motov is an Emergency Physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center in New York City. He is also one of the world’s leading researchers on pain management in the emergency department. Case: A 37-year-old man presents to the emergency department (ED) with severe right-sided flank pain. […]
The post SGEM#489: Smooth Muscle Relaxator – But does Magnesium Work for Renal Colic? first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Date: October 3, 2025 Reference: Doheim et al. Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials on IV Thrombolysis in Patients With Minor Acute Ischemic Stroke. Neurology 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Casey Parker is a Rural Generalist, Evidence-based medicine enthusiast and Ultrasound Nerd. This episode was recorded live, in beautiful Broome, Australia, at the Spring Seminar on Emergency […]
The post SGEM#488: It’s Just a Minor Stroke – Should We Still Lyse? first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Reference: George S, et al. Effectiveness of nasal high-flow oxygen during apnoea on hypoxaemia and intubation success in paediatric emergency and ICU settings: a randomised, controlled, open-label trial. Lancet Respir Med. March 2025 Date: July 10, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Spyridon Karageorgos is a Pediatric Chief Resident at Aghia Sophia Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece and […]
The post SGEM#487: Tell Me How I’m Supposed to Breathe with No Air? Nasal High Flow or Standard Care for Pediatric Intubation first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Date: September 18, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Neil Dasgupta is an Emergency Medicine (EM) physician and emergency department (ED) intensivist from Long Island, NY. He is the Vice Chair of the ED and Program Director of the EM residency program at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, NY. Reference: Doupnik et al. Impact of […]
The post SGEM#486: Call Me, on the Line – Telemental Health for Suicide Prevention first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Date: Sept 16, 2025 Reference: Prada et al. Evaluation of the evidence on acetaminophen use and neurodevelopmental disorders using the Navigation Guide methodology. Environ Health. August 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Andrew Martin is an emergency physician practicing in Jacksonville, Florida. Case: A 27-year-old at 24 weeks’ gestation presents to the emergency department (ED) with fever (38.6 °C), myalgias, and […]
The post SGEM#485: I Want a New Drug – One Not Associated with Neurodevelopmental Disorders first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Date: August 12, 2025. This is an SGEM Xtra, and today, we’re putting on our conference lanyards and boarding passes to talk about one of the most exciting events in the global EM calendar, IncrEMentuM 2026. For those who did not attend IncrEMentuM 2025, it set the bar incredibly high. From the moment delegates walked […]
The post SGEM Xtra: Incrementum 2026 first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.
Date: August 12, 2025 Article: FDA Approved and Ineffective by Jeanne Lenzer and Shannon Brownlee. June 5, 2025. The Lever. Guest Skeptic: Jeanne Lenzer is a long-time medical investigative journalist and returning SGEM guest. Her previous work, including the book The Danger Within Us, explored how conflicts of interest and weak evidence can endanger patient care. In […]
The post SGEM Xtra: Tell Me Lies, Sweet Little Lies – FDA Approved & Ineffective first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.




