Good Medicine Podcast

For decades, the United States has been a global leader in pharmaceutical innovation. But as clinical trials become increasingly expensive and time-consuming, could that leadership be at risk?In this episode of the Good Medicine Podcast, Dr. David Bearss explores the growing international competition in clinical research and what it could mean for the future of medicine.America's success in pharmaceutical development has been driven in part by an economy willing to take enormous financial risks. Developing a new drug requires substantial investment, years of research, and no guarantee of success. It's a high-stakes environment where many investments fail, but a successful breakthrough can change medicine.However, that same system now faces growing challenges. Clinical trials in the United States have become increasingly costly and complex, creating opportunities for other countries to attract research investment and accelerate drug development.Dave discusses how the United States may be becoming a victim of its own success, why other countries are positioning themselves to compete, and what could happen if the center of pharmaceutical innovation continues to shift.For American patients, the consequences could extend beyond economics. If research and development increasingly move overseas, it could eventually affect access to clinical trials, emerging treatments, and the benefits of being at the forefront of medical discovery.The question is no longer just who develops the next breakthrough. It's where that breakthrough will happen and who will benefit first.Topics covered include:• Why the United States became a leader in pharmaceutical innovation• The financial risks involved in drug development• Why clinical trials have become so expensive and time-consuming• Growing international competition for clinical research• How other countries are attracting pharmaceutical investment• What shifting innovation could mean for American patients• The future of US leadership in medicine🎧 Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts📺 Subscribe for more conversations on science, medicine, and health.Thank you to our sponsorsBioHive: https://www.biohive.comGalvan: https://galvan.sng.link/D4mh8/oe8k/littFollow Good Medicine PodcastInsta: https://www.instagram.com/good.medicine.podcast/X: https://x.com/GoodMedicinePodTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@good.medicine.podcastLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/goodmedicinepodcast/

What if getting a prescription for acne no longer required a traditional doctor's appointment?In Utah, a company called Nolla Health has received authorization to offer an AI-powered telehealth service that allows eligible adults to receive initial acne prescriptions through an automated assessment process.In this episode of the Good Medicine Podcast, Dr. David Bearss and his brother Jeremiah discuss what this development could mean for the future of healthcare.They explore how Nolla Health uses artificial intelligence to evaluate patients, including a quantitative assessment designed to determine whether someone qualifies for treatment. Rather than relying entirely on a traditional consultation, the system uses structured information and AI-driven analysis to support the prescribing process.Dave and Jeremiah also discuss the bigger implications of allowing AI to take on responsibilities that have historically belonged to medical professionals.Could this technology make routine healthcare more accessible and efficient? What happens when an AI system encounters something it wasn't designed to recognize? And where should we draw the line between automation and human medical judgment?As artificial intelligence becomes more involved in patient care, these questions will become increasingly important.Topics covered include:• Nolla Health and AI-powered acne treatment• Utah's authorization of AI telehealth services• How AI evaluates patients for treatment• Quantitative assessments and automated prescribing• The potential benefits of AI in healthcare• Safety, oversight, and the limits of automated medical decisions• What AI telehealth could mean for the future of medicine🎧 Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts📺 Subscribe for more conversations on science, medicine, and health.Thank you to our sponsorsBioHive: https://www.biohive.comGalvan: https://galvan.sng.link/D4mh8/oe8k/littFollow Good Medicine PodcastInsta: https://www.instagram.com/good.medicine.podcast/X: https://x.com/GoodMedicinePodTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@good.medicine.podcastLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/goodmedicinepodcast/

What if scientists could use light to control individual cells in the brain? And what if that same technology could help restore vision to people living with blindness?The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three scientists for pioneering optogenetics, a technology that allows researchers to control the activity of specific nerve cells using light.In this episode of the Good Medicine Podcast, Dr. David Bearss and his brother Jeremiah discuss why this discovery is such a major advancement for neuroscience and what it could mean for the future of medicine.For decades, much of psychiatry's treatment development has focused on neurotransmitters and chemical signaling. Optogenetics gives researchers a new way to investigate the neural circuits responsible for behavior, emotion, and brain function, potentially opening doors to treatments we haven't been able to develop before.Dave and Jeremiah also explore one of the technology's most exciting potential applications: restoring vision. By using a modified virus to introduce genetic instructions into cells in the eye, researchers are investigating ways to make surviving retinal cells sensitive to light, potentially restoring some visual function in people with certain forms of blindness.The implications extend far beyond eyesight. Optogenetics could fundamentally change how we study the brain, understand neurological disease, and develop future treatments.Topics covered include:• Why optogenetics won the 2026 Nobel Prize• How scientists use light to control nerve cells• What optogenetics could mean for psychiatry• Moving beyond neurotransmitters to understand the brain• Using gene delivery to restore aspects of vision• The future of neurological research and treatment🎧 Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts📺 Subscribe for more conversations on science, medicine, and health.Thank you to our sponsorsBioHive: https://www.biohive.comGalvan: https://galvan.sng.link/D4mh8/oe8k/littFollow Good Medicine PodcastInsta: https://www.instagram.com/good.medicine.podcast/X: https://x.com/GoodMedicinePodTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@good.medicine.podcastLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/goodmedicinepodcast/

What happens when a young heart is transplanted into an older body? And what happens when an older heart is placed into a younger one?In this episode of the Good Medicine Podcast, Dr. David Bearss and his brother Jeremiah discuss fascinating research using heart transplants to explore how our organs age.They look at evidence suggesting that when a younger heart is placed into an older biological environment, that heart can begin aging faster. But the opposite may also happen. An older heart placed into a younger environment can show signs of reversing aspects of its biological age.That raises a much bigger question about aging: How much of an organ's age is determined by the organ itself, and how much is determined by the body surrounding it?Dave and Jeremiah also discuss why heart transplant recipients and donors aren't necessarily matched by age, and what these natural experiments can teach researchers about the signals that drive aging throughout the body.If our organs are constantly responding to their environment, changing that environment could eventually change how we think about aging itself.Topics covered include:• Heart transplants and biological aging• Young hearts in older bodies• Older hearts in younger bodies• Why donor and recipient ages don't always match• How the body's environment affects organ function• What transplant research could teach us about aging 🎧 Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts📺 Subscribe for more conversations on science, medicine, and health.Thank you to our sponsorsBioHive: https://www.biohive.comGalvan: https://galvan.sng.link/D4mh8/oe8k/littFollow Good Medicine PodcastInsta: https://www.instagram.com/good.medicine.podcast/X: https://x.com/GoodMedicinePodTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@good.medicine.podcastLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/goodmedicinepodcast/

Living longer sounds great. But what if those additional years are spent dealing with chronic disease, limited mobility, and declining health?In this episode of the Good Medicine Podcast, Dr. David Bearss and his brother Jeremiah discuss why the conversation around longevity is shifting away from simply extending lifespan and toward something potentially much more valuable: extending healthspan.Healthspan is the portion of your life spent in good health. Instead of asking how we can add more years at the end of life, Dave and Jeremiah explore whether medicine can delay the onset of chronic disease and compress the period of poor health that many people experience as they get older.What if the goal isn't living to 100?What if it's reaching your 80s or 90s while remaining healthy, independent, and able to enjoy your life for as long as possible?Dave and Jeremiah discuss why slowing the biological processes associated with aging could change not only how long we live, but what those later years actually look like.Topics covered include:• Lifespan vs. healthspan• Why living longer isn't necessarily living better• Chronic disease and aging• Compressing the years spent in poor health• Slowing the aging process• Rethinking what successful aging actually means🎧 Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts📺 Subscribe for more conversations on science, medicine, and health.Thank you to our sponsorsBioHive: https://www.biohive.comGalvan: https://galvan.sng.link/D4mh8/oe8k/littFollow Good Medicine PodcastInsta: https://www.instagram.com/good.medicine.podcast/X: https://x.com/GoodMedicinePodTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@good.medicine.podcastLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/goodmedicinepodcast/