Podcast
Intention to Treat
Hosted by NEJM Group · EN
Welcome to “Intention to Treat,” a podcast exploring the critical issues shaping medicine today. In a new 8-week series, The Race Equation, we confront harmful assumptions about race in clinical medicine—from diagnostic algorithms to guidelines—exploring how these practices took hold, why they endure, and what it will take to change them.
Hosted by health care journalist Rachel Gotbaum, the “Intention to Treat” podcast from the New England Journal of Medicine delves into groundbreaking research and clinical advances while sharing the personal stories from doctors and their patients, offering listeners a behind-the-scenes look at discoveries that are changing medical practice on the front lines of health care.
Listen to The Race Equation and follow “Intention to Treat” on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
16episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
BiDil — The Story of the Black Pill
2d ago00:25:08Tap to summarizeHow did a drug for congestive heart failure get approved and marketed for Black people only? A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2601978.
Transcribe →When Race Matters
1w ago00:26:35Tap to summarizeThe story of the pulse oximeter demonstrates that sometimes consideration of race is critical to diagnosis and treatment — as came starkly into light during the Covid-19 pandemic. A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2601977.
Transcribe →Money and Misdiagnosis
2w ago00:24:08Tap to summarizeMany Black veterans live below the poverty line, often struggling to manage their illnesses. As V.A. hospitals began to stop using race-corrected interpretation of Black patients’ spirometer readings, there was an epiphany: the race correction wasn’t just harming the health of Black patients, it was also hurting them financially. A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2601976.
Transcribe →How Did Race Get Into Lung Testing?
3w ago00:31:21Tap to summarizeThe history of race-based correction of lung-capacity measures can be traced to a pre–Civil War belief among slave owners that slaves had naturally inferior lung capacity. Despite work to show that race-corrected spirometers mask lung-disease severity in Black patients, the majority of U.S. hospitals still use them. A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2601975.
Transcribe →Meet the Equation
May 600:32:34Tap to summarizeMany clinical algorithms, including the eGFR test for kidney function, have actually had race baked into them and produce different results for Black patients. Most of us assume these algorithms are based on science, but what if the science is wrong? A full transcript of this episode is available at https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2601974.
Transcribe →Intention to Treat | Season 2: The Race Equation (Trailer)
Apr 2700:02:45Tap to summarizeWhat happens when medicine gets race wrong? In a new 8-week series, The Race Equation confronts harmful assumptions about race in clinical medicine, why they endure, and what it will take to change. Follow “Intention to Treat” on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Transcribe →Brain Injury and Consciousness
Sep 25, 202400:25:49Tap to summarizeNew research using functional brain imaging reveals that many patients considered to be in a coma or vegetative state and who are unresponsive may actually be conscious and aware. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2408662.
Transcribe →What Exactly Is Long Covid?
Sep 11, 202400:26:03Tap to summarizeThe millions of people worldwide who are suffering from a vast array of disabling symptoms long after being infected with SARS-CoV-2 may eventually benefit from a new consensus definition of long Covid. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2407614.
Transcribe →Restoring Lost Speech
Aug 14, 202400:22:02Tap to summarizeIn recent years, substantial progress has been made in developing brain-computer interfaces that could restore the ability of patients with neurodegenerative diseases and other conditions to communicate. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2407613.
Transcribe →Race-Based Diagnosis, Part 3
Jul 31, 202400:25:17Tap to summarizeAs race-based diagnostic tools, such as pulse oximeters that function poorly on darker skin, continue to lead to inequitable care, a growing movement is working to weed them out of U.S. health care. A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2407611.
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