Episode Details

The US is a rich country with a shitty health care system. What went wrong? The short answer: capitalism. Good medicine at its heart requires trust and an assumption of honesty and good intentions; the market requires nothing more nor less than profits for shareholders. The corporate capitalist capture of health care destroys the natural underpinnings of care and compassion. We’re joined today by Howard Waitzkin, a primary care physician and sociologist who has taught social medicine at a wide range of clinics, colleges, and universities, including the United Farm Workers Clinic in Salinas, California; La Clínica de la Raza in Oakland; Stanford University; Massachusetts General Hospital; and the University of California.