After Hours: Breaking Brad: He Healed Himself and Could Help Millions

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: Full Measure After Hours
Episode: Breaking Brad: He Healed Himself and Could Help Millions
Host: Sharyl Attkisson
Guest: Bradley Burnham (Founder & CEO, Turn Therapeutics)
Date: October 9, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this compelling episode, Sharyl Attkisson talks with Bradley Burnham, who recounts his battle with a devastating, antibiotic-resistant infection and how that ordeal inspired him to invent a groundbreaking wound-care product in his garage. The episode not only details Burnham’s personal health journey and innovation but highlights the critical gaps in America's drug approval process and the challenges faced by healthcare innovators.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Health Crisis (00:34 – 03:33)

• Burnham's Background: Former medical device rep, constantly exposed to hospital-borne bacteria.
• The Infection: In late 2009, Burnham contracted a deadly, antibiotic-resistant bacteria (CRE) with a 70% fatality rate in the bloodstream.
  • "I woke up the next morning and this whole side of my head was black and my ear was like twice its normal size and hot because it was infected." - Bradley Burnham (01:52)
• Medical Limitations: Despite numerous surgeries and intensive antibiotic treatments, his infection kept recurring over a four-to-five-year period.
  • "I don't blame the physicians... They just didn't have the tools to stop this." – Burnham (03:33)

The Decision to Innovate (03:33 – 06:08)

• Inspiration from Europe: Burnham notes that Europe often has advanced medical devices and treatments years before the US.
• Desperation Breeds Ingenuity:
  • "When you're that desperate, you go off script. Maybe I can get this ingredient. Maybe I could do something with it." – Burnham (04:16)
• DIY Chemistry: Utilized Alibaba, chemical suppliers, and household equipment to develop a prototype in his garage—earning the nickname 'Breaking Brad.'
  • "I got a barrel of petrolatum... my neighbors probably thought I was working on something else..." – Burnham (05:13)
• Technical Discovery: Developed a way to integrate polyhexanide (PHMB), a safe and effective antiseptic popular in Europe, into petrolatum without an emulsifier.
  • "You just mixed oil and water together and made it stay." – Burnham quoting a patent attorney friend (06:10)

The Garage Compound that Worked (07:10 – 08:35)

• The Secret Ingredient: Polyhexanide (PHMB), widely used in the UK for resistant wounds but virtually unknown in the US.
• Self-Experimentation: With lab confirmation, Burnham’s doctors began using the product. Healing occurred in weeks instead of months.
  • "And the wound started to close... It was quick." – Burnham (08:01, 08:26)

Bringing the Product to Market (08:53 – 13:13)

• The Drive to Share: Burnham discovers Neosporin was never FDA-approved and performs poorly, motivating him to pursue official clearance for his product.
  • "...Neosporin had never been FDA approved. 75 years old, doesn't work. I wanted other people to have this Neosporin consistency product that actually worked..." – Burnham (08:58)
• Regulatory Challenges:
  • "The process is so analog in a digital era and so nuanced and so convoluted..." – Burnham (10:18)
• Cost & Time: Achieved FDA clearance for $24,000—highlighting how the real costs often go to consultants and inefficiencies.
  • "I did it for $24,000." – Burnham (12:27)
• Wide Application: Now cleared for wounds, burns, diabetic ulcers, radiation dermatitis, severe eczema, and toenail fungus.
  • "In fact, it was as much of a shock to me that it worked so well on the chronic wounds as it was to anyone." – Burnham (12:39)

Scaling Up and Impact (13:13 – 16:01)

• Grassroots Growth: Burnham personally distributed 20,000 samples, secured a major distribution deal, and built a company (Turn Therapeutics) with multiple cleared products and ongoing drug trials.
  • "I was a one man salesman. I flew 500,000 miles in two years..." – Burnham (13:18)
• Main Product: The product, called Hexagen, is currently prescription-only due to marketplace constraints but aims for broader consumer access.
  • "It's easier to start in the prescription market, get the doctor's blessing, and then move to OTC..." – Burnham (14:37)
• Financial Growth: Significant venture capital, and a $70M licensing deal.
  • "The company's in really good shape at this point." – Burnham (15:37)

Personal Aftermath and Lessons Learned (16:01 – 17:52)

• Recovery: Burnham underwent about 21 surgeries, including major reconstructive work.
• Mission-Driven:
  • "My product cured myself and I felt it was my duty... I had to get it to other people..." – Burnham (16:01)
• Systemic Reflections:
  • "There are things out there that we can't have in this country because they're too hard for the innovators to bring here. And I find that distressing." – Burnham (17:00)
  • "It's time for Congress to let the FDA modernize a bit to join us in the modern age." – Burnham (17:00)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Impact of Regulations:
  "It's an analog process in a digital world which we have no excuse for. We have AI now. They shouldn't make every product, no matter what it is, go through the same 10 year steps." – Burnham (17:00)
• On Motivation:
  "Never give up. Don't accept an answer that doesn't solve your problem." – Attkisson (16:47)
• On the State of US Healthcare Innovation:
  "Europe is three to five years ahead of us because they partner with innovators and invest in the future of healthcare." – Burnham (17:00)

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Key Timestamps

• Burnham’s Initial Infection and Surgeries: (01:24 – 03:33)
• DIY Garage R&D—The 'Breaking Brad' Story: (05:11 – 06:08)
• First Success with PHMB Compound: (08:01 – 08:35)
• FDA Clearance and Regulatory Process: (09:56 – 12:27)
• Indications for the Product and Current Status: (12:31 – 15:15)
• Reflections and Systemic Critique: (16:45 – 17:52)

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Conclusion

Bradley Burnham’s extraordinary personal journey spotlights both the resilience of individual innovators and the critical shortcomings of the American medical regulatory system. His invention, born of necessity in his own garage, not only saved his life but now provides hope and healing to countless others—all while prompting urgent questions about access, modernity, and innovation in US healthcare.

For more information:

• Learn more about Turn Therapeutics and Hexagen via your medical provider or online.
• For more with Brad Burnham, check out Full Measure on TV or FullMeasure.News.

Transcript

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[Cheryl Akison]

Hi, everybody, it's Cheryl Akisson. Welcome to another edition of Full Measure. After Hours today, one man's garage invention that cured himself from a threatening disease and may end up helping millions. Today's podcast is an incredible story that begins with one man's unfortunate health crisis, but ends with him finding a way to cure himself. With a discovery that now stands to help millions. It also exposed remarkable flaws in America's process for finding and approving effective medical treatments. You'll be hearing from Bradley Burnham, now founder and CEO of Turn Therapeutics. But as you'll hear, that's not how it all started.

[Bradley Burnham]

So I can tell you it was December 2009. I'd been a medical device rep for about a decade, which means I was in the hospitals. I was walking around touching the patients in the operating room a lot. And hospitals are sort of cesspools of bacteria. You can pick things up on surfaces. And I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. So I picked up a really, really deadly strain of bacteria. It's called cre. The healthcare practitioners out there know that that's not a good one to get.

[Interviewer]

The kind that the antibiotics don't work well for.

[Bradley Burnham]

It's a highly resistant organism. It's about a 70% fatality rate. Once it hits your bloodstream, about quarter of the time, it manifests itself in the soft tissue. In my case, I started getting abscesses on my neck and scalp. The morning that I remember in December. It was actually toward the end of December. I'd gone to bed the night before. Everything was normal. I'd brushed my teeth, looked in the mirror, didn't see anything out of the ordinary. And I woke up the next morning and this whole side of my head was black and my ear was like twice its normal size and hot because it was infected. And that's a sign of infection, obviously. Terrifying. My dad's a cardiologist. I called him. He was a local hospital physician. He said, meet me at the ER right now. I didn't even make it into the actual ER door before the infectious disease doctor in the hallway, who happened to be a colleague of his, said, you need an emergency surgery right now, which is terrifying when you can't even get the time to get examined.

[Interviewer]

And so just to go over the course of time, from what I understand, it just continued to spread. There was nothing they could do. It came back.

[Bradley Burnham]

I would say I'd call it more recurrent. It definitely did spread six days after my first emergency surgery, which took four hours, and there was not even an anesthesiologist on staff that day. Like we had to rush it that quick. This was all under local. I mean, I must have had or 60 nerve block injections throughout. I was there again within a week for another abscess. And that just became a recurring theme of the next four to five years of my life.

[Interviewer]

So medical science did not, as far as you knew, have the ability to stop this, fix you?

[Bradley Burnham]

I will say that the physicians I was working with did not have the tools in their bag. The pills that they were giving me, you know, dozens upon dozens of antibiotic courses, IV antibiotics. At one point, the surgeries, you know, the scraping, the cutting, nothing was working. I don't blame the physicians. These were great physicians. They just didn't have the tools to stop this.

[Interviewer]

Most people, that's probably not. Maybe that virus itself or whatever that was, is somewhat unique. But a lot of people have stories about not being able to be cured by modern medicine. What made you think that, that maybe you could develop something that would cure yourself?

[Bradley Burnham]

When I was in the pacemaker industry, I remember that Europe always got things a few generations before us, and that was just always in my mind. When I wanted to see what we were going to get next, I would look over there. So I had the thought, at least the initial inclination. When you're lying on the couch eating antibiotics like Tic Tacs all day long, I mean, you don't have much else to do. Just getting your wound dressing changes as your daily routine. And I looked over there and I saw that there was something that they had that we did not have yet, which is no surprise, because Europe tends to be three to five years before us on products like wound care that might help me. And when you're that desperate, you go off script. Maybe I can get this ingredient. Maybe I could do something with it. Maybe I could give it to my doctor. So I didn't necessarily even know where things were going at that point. I love where They've gone. But I just wanted to help myself at that point.

[Interviewer]

So what did you do?

[Bradley Burnham]

So it actually makes me laugh when I think back on this story because there's a great Joe Walsh quote that I often say that when you look back on your life, it feels like a bunch of chaotic events, but then it actually sort of feels like a novel later on. And I think of that quote, I started ordering ingredients on Alibaba.com, and chemical websites, and they were shipping to my garage. I mean, so. And I've got. Then I got a barrel of petrolatum because I wanted something greasy, you know, because when they were packing the wounds, it hurts really bad. And when the stuff dried up, I didn't want it to stick to the wound. And then I got pots and pans, literally from like Bed Bath and Beyond. I probably used a coupon when I got them. And a barrel of petrolatum. A 55 gallon drum just delivered to my garage. And I'm convinced to this day my neighbors probably thought I was working on something else, which is why I got this industry nickname of Breaking Brad, ironically.

[Interviewer]

The Breaking Brad.

[Bradley Burnham]

Yeah, the parody on the show.

[Interviewer]

And petrolatum is sort of like Vaseline.

[Bradley Burnham]

It actually. So Vaseline is 100% petrolatum and actually got corrected on this a lot in the beginning. Petroleum is sort of the unrefined version of. It's got more oils and waxes in it, makes it more flammable, too. So it is Vaseline. And I got a $69 mortar mixer from Amazon that turned. I turned a new homogenizer. I started just trying to whip these ingredients together, and about 100 tries in a chemical burn or two later, I figured out a way to fuse this liquid ingredient into this petrolatum, this Vaseline consistency without an ingredient in the middle, without an emulsifier, which, thankfully, I have a friend who's a patent attorney. He said, hey, you just mixed oil and water together and made it stay. And I made it stay. It became stable. And then it was stable again and stable again. Once I got to a recipe, I guess I could call it, that wasn't actually injuring me. I decided to look at the FDA guidances and, you know, look for vendors and how are people figuring out if these products work and what was the.

[Interviewer]

Secret ingredient that mattered?

[Bradley Burnham]

So it's called polyhexanide pHMB, which I've sat at the head of major government agencies in the US with division chiefs, and it's very similar to chlorhexidine, which is the stuff that they usually scrub you with before surgery. But they hadn't heard of this ingredient. And in the uk, this was a consensus document, which means they'd sort of decided as a group we should use this consistently from 2010 for resistant wounds, for every wound, for antisepsis. They use it as a food preservative. They use it as it's safe, it's strong, and it's standard of care there.

[Interviewer]

So you are using some trial and error stuff going on, I guess, in your garage. You could say that you applied this to yourself. And when and how did you realize it was working?

[Bradley Burnham]

So after I found out from the lab that it actually worked on the organism that was causing my problems, I gave it to the doctors because they have freedom to use things, you know, as they wish. And I showed them the data.

[Interviewer]

But you didn't just rub it on your.

[Bradley Burnham]

No, I was. There was always. I didn't want to touch that without the doctor's at least permission. So they put it in there and the wound started to close. And these abscesses used to take months to close.

[Interviewer]

How soon did it start to look better?

[Bradley Burnham]

Weeks. And you can tell quickly on these really deep, you know, chronic abscesses, when the tissue that looks healthier, when it starts to actually look better, it was quick.

[Interviewer]

So an ingredient that existed widely used in Europe, relatively unknown in this country.

[Bradley Burnham]

Relatively is sort of an understatement. I would say almost entirely unknown. It's been in like a contact lens cleaner as a preservative at one point, but that's about it.

[Interviewer]

So you make it into a product that can be used on wounds.

[Bradley Burnham]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

What's next? Now that you know it works for you, you probably want to tell other people.

[Bradley Burnham]

What's next was I wanted everybody to have this as soon as I found out Neosporin had never been FDA approved, which is sort of the. In the initial search for information. What is all this crap they're using on me? Sorry? What is all this stuff they're using on me that isn't working? And I found out Neosporin was never FDA approved. 75 years old, doesn't work. I wanted other people to have this Neosporin consistency product that actually worked to help them, because I know I'm not the only person who goes through resistant wound infections. So I said, hey, I've got an iPhone and a 401k I can take on pharma and big device. So I started running the test to get it in FDA clearance. I wanted that stamp of Clearance from the fda. I ran all the tests, paid for it myself, took it through the FDA from Kinko's, actually was working from Kinko's. And I put together the binder there and I got it cleared at the end of 16 and things just sort of went from there.

[Interviewer]

People talk about the process of getting a drug approved by the fda. You said cleared, not approved. So this is over the counter type thing.

[Bradley Burnham]

This was a. So medical devices are considered cleared and drugs are considered approved.

[Interviewer]

But people talk about, in any event, this is so complicated and expensive to do what's required. Why was not that the case for you?

[Bradley Burnham]

Oh, it was not just complicated and expensive, it was antiquated. So I just read and read and read. There are very lengthy, very boring guidance documents out there for how to do this. And I just thought to myself, I've got to do this. So I taught myself the process. I mean, there were so many steps along the way where you could see where the FDA has not been modernized since the last Modernization act of 1997. The last time they got a full legislature or legislative overhaul was in 97. Even the Adobe files that you had to send in had to be numbered with a correct form, like 001-002. My first four attempts got kicked back like you failed. I couldn't even send them the information. So the instructions are out there. The process is so analog in a digital era and so nuanced and so convoluted that I think people just, they end up just going to the consultants and the legal experts and that's when they find out they can't afford it.

[Interviewer]

How long did this take you and how much money did you spend for.

[Bradley Burnham]

The initial FDA clearance? I spent, including the review fee, $24,000, which I know is a lot less money. But it also shows you how much money is going into consultants pockets, lawyers pockets, internal waste. Because this product got the same tests from the same or better vendors as everybody else. It went through the same regulatory process, it went through the same agency. And so what's the difference?

[Interviewer]

You could bring a medicine to market for $24,000.

[Bradley Burnham]

This was. Well, in theory, if I wanted to make it like Neosporin, I could do it for no approval, because products like that, you can just. If you had a Dun and Bradstreet number, we could go to a computer right now and actually start making Neosporin with a contract manufacturer. You just register it under a website called DailyMed, which is where all the drugs are registered. But to actually get the blessing to Give this to patients with serious indications like diabetic ulcers, venous ulcers, burns. I did it for $24,000.

[Interviewer]

You think this could work on people with radiation burns from cancer treatment?

[Bradley Burnham]

We actually have a clearance for radiation dermatitis.

[Interviewer]

This works for people with those persistent diabetes leg wounds, for example.

[Bradley Burnham]

Yeah. There's been publications about how effective it is. In fact, it was as much of a shock to me that it worked so well on the chronic wounds as it was to anyone. Because in the beginning I was just sort of going. And it was the doctors who informed me that it was working so well at preventing amputation, healing chronic wounds. And also they informed me of other stuff they were using it for. Things like severe eczema. We're running drug trials right now for the same formula and eczema, things like toenail fungus that I never would have thought of. These doctors are clever and they'll try new things, especially because they've run out of new things in certain areas.

[Interviewer]

What doctors are even learning this is available. People, you know that then are spreading the word or how is it getting out?

[Bradley Burnham]

I know at this point I was a one man Salesman. I flew 500,000 miles in two years on a credit line that my mom coached. Signed for true story. And I just put on the sales rep hat and I said, what do you have to lose? I got 20,000 samples made and with the label was homemade. It was one of the worst labels you've ever seen, but it was compliant and registered and they tried it and it worked.

[Interviewer]

So where are you today? You started your own company on the basis of that one medicine?

[Bradley Burnham]

Yeah. So when I got a call from the largest medical distributor in the world saying, we want to carry your product, and I was still one person and the back of the package went to my cell phone for customer support. I thought maybe I should build some infrastructure at this point. So actually was able to raise some capital to build the company. I had never done that before. I'd never heard what a venture capital firm was at that point. And the company has grown since then. You know, now we've got three cleared products, a fourth in process. We've got two drug trials in process. We're doing a biodefense project with a nonprofit. Company's growing.

[Cheryl Akison]

What's the name of the company, the.

[Interviewer]

Name of the product that we're talking about, if you know all these things about how much it sells for, if someone's buying it over the count, is this available at like a pharmacy or a doctor has to give it to you.

[Bradley Burnham]

So at the point it's, at this point it's prescription because it turns out it's easier to get. So the consumer market is really difficult to break into because you're dealing with hundreds of millions of marketing and, you know, battling Johnson and Johnson on the shelves and stuff like that. So it's actually easier to start in the prescription market, get the doctor's blessing, and then move to otc. That first product is called Hexogen. It's been cleared in multiple different forms for everything from atopic dermatitis to chronic wounds. But now we're working on, you know, severe eczema and toenail fungus. And I don't know what those indications will cost because I have to let the experts weigh in on that.

[Interviewer]

But if somebody watching has a persistent skin disorder or wound, they should ask their doctor about the possibility of using this product.

[Bradley Burnham]

They should definitely look the company up and see what we're working on.

[Interviewer]

Do you say hexagon? Hexagon, yeah. And can you say how much money have you gotten your $24,000 back by this company?

[Bradley Burnham]

So the, the company has gotten millions of dollars in funding because once you have a bunch of patents and FDA clearances and distribution contracts, people tend to believe in you more than when it's an idea, it turns out. So the company's in really good shape at this point. We've even got a 70 plus million dollar license deal for a wound product I developed and licensed to a public company.

[Interviewer]

So your product cured yourself?

[Bradley Burnham]

My product cured myself and I felt it was my duty. I feel like it's a cliche word, but it feels like the right word to use. I had to get it to other people because my story is romanticized a lot and I love that it brings some people hope. But it was a miserable five years.

[Interviewer]

You lost part of your ear. You must have had reconstructive surgery.

[Bradley Burnham]

About half of those 21 surgeries if you can't cut it in half, but I'd say about approximately were reconstructive. I have an amazing surgeon. I mean, he was doing stitching inside the ear canals and my scalp looks like a roadmap if you look at all the scars.

[Interviewer]

What would you say is the takeaway lesson from this for people watching after your whole experience that you went through?

[Bradley Burnham]

The takeaway lesson for me, I mean.

[Interviewer]

To me one of them is kind of like, never give up. Don't accept an answer that doesn't solve your problem. I don't know what are, but there's bigger ones involving FDA and all I'm sure that you can talk about.

[Bradley Burnham]

The takeaway lesson for me is that there are things out there that we can't have in this country because they're too hard for the innovators to bring here. And I find that distressing. I find it distressing that there's very safe regenerative medicine treatments in places like Panama and Costa Rica, that Europe is three to five years ahead of us because they partner with innovators and invest in the future of healthcare. And it's time for Congress to let the FDA modernize a bit to join us in the modern age. It's been 30 years since they've had a legislative overhaul. It's an analog process in a digital world which we have no excuse for. We have AI now. They shouldn't make every product, no matter what it is. Go through the same 10 year steps.

[Cheryl Akison]

To see and hear more from Brad Burnham I hope you'll watch Full Measure on Sunday, October 12th. If you happen to be listening to this after October 12th, don't worry, you can always go to FullMeasure News and watch a replay or go to our unadvertised full measure YouTube channel and watch it there. I hope you enjoyed the podcast and that you will consider sharing it with your friends, leaving a great review and subscribing to it. And I hope you will also check out my other podcast, the Cheryl Akison Podcast. My national bestseller Follow the How Big Pharma Misleads, Obscures, and Prevails recently was on an Amazon bestseller list. Again, this book is chock full of amazing, incredible, formerly untold stories that explains a lot about why we as a nation have become so sick, even as we've never spent more on hospitals, doctors and insurance. It has to do with scandals and cover ups and the medical establishment as well as the media's role in all of it. And anytime you can go to cherylakisson.com and click on the store tab to find some products designed exclusively for independent thinkers like you. Before long, you're going to need to find some original gifts for those hard to shop for friends for Christmas, think about the Cheryl Akison Store. Store proceeds support independent reporting causes, and the products have great slogans like I need to find some new conspiracy theories. All my old ones came true. And do your own research. Make up your own mind.

[Interviewer]

Think for yourself.