Cleared Hot Podcast Ep. 410: Brigham Buhler – Redefining Healthcare and Treatment

Date: October 6, 2025
Host: Andy Stumpf
Guest: Brigham Buhler (Founder, Ways2Well)

Episode Theme & Purpose

This episode features Brigham Buhler, founder of Ways2Well, for a deep-dive into the American healthcare system, its failings, systemic corruption, and how Buhler’s medical and entrepreneurial journey fueled his mission to radically improve patient care and redefine “healthcare” vs. “sick care.” The conversation covers industry capture, pharmaceutical and insurance collusion, the opioid crisis, the future potential of stem cell and peptide treatments, and the technological shift toward AI-driven, personalized healthcare.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. How Systemic Capture and Corruption Rig Healthcare

• Capture from the Start:
  • Brigham recounts that U.S. health institutions (FDA, CDC, EPA) were “born in captivity”—never truly independent from industry control ([06:08], [10:04]).
    • "The healthcare system's not broken, it’s rigged. And we're the ones footing the bills—in money but also in human life... viewed as a commodity to be traded by industry." – Brigham ([05:37])
• Industry Influence in Regulation:
  • Historical context: The FDA’s foundation and its early industry lobbying (Coca-Cola, Big Pharma not wanting to remove cocaine/opioids from products) mirrors current manipulation ([07:05]).
  • CDC and corporate influence—headquarters gifted by Coca-Cola, captured by diabetes coverups ([09:32], [10:04]).
  • The revolving door: FDA/CDC/EPA heads moving to lucrative industry jobs ([44:10] et al.).
• Insurance–Pharma Collusion:
  • PBMs (pharmacy benefit managers), originally meant to lower drug prices, were bought up by big insurers, then used to inflate prescription costs and drive up profit ([35:24]).
  • Insurance revenue now vastly outpaces pharma—and both profit off chronic diseases.

2. Opioid Crisis, Insurance Profiteering & Regulatory Malfeasance

• Personal impact: Brigham’s brother died from opioid addiction after a sports injury ([38:36]).
• Insurance-pushed prescriptions:
  • Insurers denied coverage for non-addictive alternatives, insisted on opioids due to cost/profit ratios ([39:36]).
• Regulatory collusion:
  • Sackler family (Purdue Pharma) met with FDA officials, quickly moved to high-level pharma positions post-approval ([40:24]).
  • Historic repetition: Sacklers behind both the opioid and 1970s Valium crises.

3. Why The System Won't Fix Itself

• Medicine as Business vs. Medicine as Care:
  • Chronic disease is incentivized, not prevented: “Business is good if you’re selling Alzheimer’s meds, and as soon as we moved to quarterly earnings, it stopped being about saving a life.” ([35:04]).
  • Clinical guidelines, diagnostic criteria, and even the food pyramid (statin thresholds, depression diagnostics, osteoporosis)—all written or skewed by industry to grow “market share” ([43:49], [94:41]).
• Practitioner Burnout:
  • Doctors leave med school full of hope, only to find themselves restricted by economic/corporate boundaries—resulting in “soul crushing” burnout ([78:03], [126:37]).

4. Medical Device & Pharmaceutical Sales as “Wild West”

• Brigham’s background: Pharmaceutical and med device sales were built on rapport, expensed gifts, and targeting top prescribers, regardless of actual patient need ([78:09], [81:39]).
  • “All things being equal, clinicians prescribe for who they like. They told us: go become this motherfucker’s best friend.” – Brigham ([81:26])
• Off-label promotion: Pharmaceutical reps encouraged by consultants to expand markets outside official indications, while told to “never speak of this off-label” on training modules ([83:08]).
• Lax FDA device regulation:
  • Most operating room equipment never did human safety studies—grandfathered in by “510k” loophole ([117:00]).
  • Loaner surgical tools sometimes go directly from zoo animal surgery to human surgery due to poor tracking ([120:17]).

5. Redefining and Rebuilding Healthcare

• Proactive Over Reactive:
  • Healthspan vs. lifespan—focus is keeping people thriving, not just alive to 100 ([47:02]).
  • Early diagnosis: Comprehensive biomarker testing, stage-0 cancer screening, DEXA scan, VO2 max, individualized AI health tracking ([49:24]).
    • “In a dream world, we could do a full workup—identify 200 types of cancer at stage zero... build a business plan for your body." – Brigham ([49:24])
• Hormones & Peptides:
  • Demonization of hormone therapy is rooted in old, industry-driven studies ([45:24], [58:21]).
  • Tiered approach to peptides (BPC157, GHK-Cu, IGF-LR3), personalized dosing, and cautious use based on risk (e.g., cancer) ([151:59], [152:22]).
• Accessible, AI-Powered “Health Concierge” Care:
  • Ways2Well’s future: Cash-pay, comprehensive bloodwork, clinician access, AI assistant “Alan,” and patient agency over care ([143:59], [146:35]).
  • Goal is $30-50/month, nationwide access, “not just for pro athletes” ([150:09]).

6. Stem Cells, International Treatment, and Regulatory Hurdles

• US restrictions: Not allowed to clone/expand stem cells; only use what’s harvested ([129:07]).
• Comparison to international clinics: Those offer more, expanded (manipulated) cells at higher cost, but Brigham argues healing rate is physiologically limited; more isn’t always better ([129:55]).
• Muscle & Longevity: Retaining muscle is the number one (post obesity) longevity marker, for both men and women ([59:40]).
• Stories from the field: Treatment successes with orthopedic injuries, rare muscular dystrophy, cognitive decline (noted with skepticism, medical caveats, and emphasis on participant effort) ([133:50], [159:25]).

7. Media, Free Speech, and Industry Pushback

• Podcasting as Resistance:
  • Mainstream media and even agencies (CDC, FDA, etc.) are complicit or captured by profit; grassroots media and podcasts are crucial for change ([97:22], [104:22]).
    • “The hope is podcasts, free thinkers, people realizing the system is not what they told us.” – Brigham ([97:22])
• Censorship and Deplatforming: YouTube/Spotify can throttle or remove content that challenges pharma, as happened with some of Brigham’s and Rogan’s episodes ([104:51]).
• Online smear campaigns: Industry-funded, SEO-optimized attack articles tarnish whistleblowers ([110:58]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The healthcare system's not broken, it’s rigged.” – Brigham ([05:37])
• “If you follow what I’m telling you, I can help you... avoid metabolic disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, dementia… and live to be a healthy, happy 85-year-old.” – Brigham ([59:40])
• “Doctors are trapped in an ecosystem where they are trying to get you in and out on a well or sick visit. Six minutes, can’t get the tests done. They can’t take a shit without the insurance company telling them.” – Brigham ([63:18])
• “The five biggest insurance companies have almost three times the revenue of the five biggest pharmaceutical companies. They are killing it, literally and figuratively.” ([35:24])
• “If we have to rape children to run our government, we’ve got a problem, dude. Like, are you kidding me?” – Brigham ([103:57])
• “Ways2Well is here to push the envelope and be ahead. Everything we do is not FDA-approved. We’re not in that world.” – Brigham ([161:00])
• "Our only real hope is that podcasts and free speech platforms stay open... if those are cut off, if they really want to throttle dissent, it's possible." – Andy ([105:52])
• Epic moment: Andy’s “new law” proposal requiring all lobbyist meetings be live-streamed ([101:05]).

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:00 – 06:10 | Corruption vs. “Broken” in Healthcare
• 07:00 – 10:52 | Early FDA history, industry influence, regulatory capture
• 35:24 – 39:49 | Insurance–pharma collusion, PBMs, profit over care
• 38:36 – 41:59 | Opioid crisis, personal loss, FDA–Sackler connection
• 43:47 – 45:24 | Mental health treatment & diagnostic industry influence
• 49:24 – 50:39 | Future diagnostics, proactive healthspan strategies
• 57:34 – 59:39 | Hormone-based therapy, propaganda’s impact on women’s health
• 81:26 – 84:14 | Sales, off-label drug promotion, drug market creation
• 117:00 – 122:30 | Medical device regulation, “loaner” devices, device recalls
• 129:06 – 132:04 | US vs. international stem cell science and limits
• 143:59 – 146:46 | Ways2Well, AI assistant Alan, personalized health plans
• 150:09 – 151:44 | Cost, access to care, value compared to lifestyle expenses
• 161:00 – End | How to find Ways2Well, availability, Brigham’s closing thoughts

Tone and Style

Andy and Brigham maintain humor, candor, and a no-bullshit, ultra-transparent style, peppered with sarcasm, personal anecdotes, and occasional dark humor. Brigham is both passionate and deeply critical, openly admitting bias, regret, and a drive to reform from inside the system.

How to Connect/Next Steps

• Website: Ways2Well.com (Currently not available in CA and a few other states)
• Instagram: @BrighamBuhler
• Virtual & In-person: Clinics in Austin and Houston; mobile/virtual nationwide (excl. CA/others).
• AI Assistant Alan: Available for real-time health Q&A, biometric tracking, and more via the app or website.
• Offer: Comprehensive bloodwork, hormone and peptide therapy, stem cell treatment, proactive healthspan plans.

For Listeners:

This episode is an essential listen if you want to understand why American healthcare feels so broken, how systemic collusion shapes your care, and real alternatives that empower you to get ahead of disease rather than become a lifelong customer-patient. Brigham Buhler doesn’t mince words or pull punches—neither should you when it comes to your own health.