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One-on-one with Dr. Mehmet Öz
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on this edition of Politicking.
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(gentle upbeat music)
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Welcome to Politicking, I'm Larry King.
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One-on-one with Dr. Mehmet Öz,
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surgeon and bestselling author.
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His syndicated show, by the way.
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Now, in it's 12th year.
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They said it couldn't be done.
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He is talking COVID-19 and bias in healthcare
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and racial injustice and a lot more.
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He's a cardiothoracic surgeon,
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he joins us from New Jersey.
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Always good to have you, Dr. Öz.
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What's your reaction to the Bob Woodward interview
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of Donald Trump,
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when Trump said,
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he wanted to play down the virus?
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It is concerning.
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It was difficult enough without politics getting involved
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to figure out how to manage this virus.
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You know, I just had several members
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of the White House Task Force on my program.
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There's testing czar Giroir, and Surgeon General Adams.
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And they were very open about the fact
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that there was so much confusion early on with the pandemic.
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That those are issues that we as a nation
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are gonna have to grapple with,
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not just for looking backwards at what happened in COVID-19,
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but for future viruses.
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We have an underfunded, weakened healthcare system.
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Healthcare Monitoring System, Public Health System
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that we're gonna have to address.
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Then you add politics to that.
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And you know what they say,
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when you mix politics with medicine,
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you know what you get?
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Politics.
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Medicine sort of gets left out
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and that's unfortunately happened more than we want.
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How did it come to that
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in the most advanced country in the world?
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You know, public health is like watching paint dry
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for a lot of people.
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Not much is happening,
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you don't hear from them.
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You know, you don't notice they're doing anything,
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but in fairness, that's what success looks like.
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You never hear from them.
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They get ahead of a problem,
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they deal with it and it goes away.
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Take the flu.
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They monitor the flu.
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We have all kinds of tools to do that,
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but you've got a major advantage.
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With the flu, people tell you they're sick.
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And then you can say, okay, we have 10 people here are sick.
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25 people there that are sick.
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We gotta be careful in this area.
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With this virus, 40% of the spread is probably asymptomatic.
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Now, maybe asymptomatic people don't spread it
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quite as much as someone who's hot coughing
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and hacking and sneezing,
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but it makes it really hard for a public health service
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to figure out who's sick
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if you can't tell and they can't tell.
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So those are the kinds of problems
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that led to the importance of testing.
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And you all remember this,
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and admiral Giroir knows this firsthand
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because he was hired on March 12th.
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Now March the 12th was two months after the first reports
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that we were aware of from China of COVID-19.
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We still did not have testing in America.
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That was reasonable.
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And so he was hired to come to testing czar
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to at least build us in some capacity.
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Now we can do hundreds of thousands a day,
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but you know, it took a while
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and that's awkward because no modeling
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that this country ever ran to predict our competence,
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to deal with the pandemic
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ever assumed we wouldn't know
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that there was a virus out there.
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We always assume we'd be able to know somebody was sick.
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All right, well, what do you make of Trump's handling,
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of telling Bob Woodward,
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that he knew it was deadly stuff,
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but he didn't want to,
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he played it down to America.
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Well, it creates a credibility gap.
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And it's a challenge.
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I can't discuss the politics of this any more
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than anyone else can.
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'Cause you all saw the reports
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and I pushed the testings czar,
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Admiral Giroir, on this issue.
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And he said, listen, we'll have plenty of time to look back
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and try to figure out what we could have done better.
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But one thing we cannot afford to do
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is make the same mistakes going forward.
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And so we expect there to be more virus,
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as the weather gets cold.
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The virus does better in the cold weather.
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Plus we, as human beings are more indoors
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in poorly ventilated rooms sometimes
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where super spreader moments can happen.
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So lets just figure out how to get through
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the next few months til we get a vaccine.
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Because that's gonna be our number one challenge.
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And I think a lot of Americans still
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do not respect this virus and what it could do to you.
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All right, Trump continues to suggest,
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we'll have a vaccine maybe before election day.
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Most experts are skeptical.
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Where do you stand?
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I'm skeptical as well.
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I haven't had a big name,
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experts, believe we would have a vaccine available,
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but I have had people now come on and say,
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we believe we will know if a vaccine will work
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by election day.
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And I theoretically,
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between when we know that it works,
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and when we can start broadly administering it.
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That's, you know, a month or two or three, you know,
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it depends.
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And so at least by the end of this year,
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beginning of next year,
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we will start vaccinating the high risk medical responders,
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that first responders,
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as well as people in nursing homes
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and otherwise vulnerable.
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But you know, Larry, just this week,
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the Chinese finally announced
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that they have already given hundreds of thousands
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of their own vaccine to their doctors and first responders.
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So it's already starting in other countries, if not ours
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and yet that vaccine is not proven yet in China,
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but I'm assuming they have enough data
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to feel comfortable starting to use it,
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if they're already giving it to their own people.
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Dr. Barry Bloom,
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an expert in infectious disease at Harvard
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says the idea a vaccine will end the pandemic
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isn't realistic.
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Well, I think the data we have
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on antibody longevity,
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makes you concerned about the durability of a vaccine.
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But at least for a few months, people are protected.
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And I'm not as concerned about younger people.
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I'm especially concerned
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about people who are in the high risk categories.
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The vulnerable population that really pays the price
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when they get sick.
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And if we can figure out ways of immunizing them,
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even if it's done more than once a year,
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it would still be a major step up
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from where we are right now,
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where much of the population
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has never seen anything like this vaccine.
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I also don't want to underplay
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the importance of immunologic response
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that we have from prior preexisting Corona viruses.
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The Germans and the Swedes believe that up to a third
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of their population may already have immunologic protection
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against COVID-19 because of past common cold viruses
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that the population may have been exposed to.
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And that would dramatically increase
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the number of people who are protected.
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Thus getting us closer to herd immunity.
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Now we don't wanna try to get the herd immunity
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by getting infected.
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That's not a wise path,
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but if you add a vaccine to,
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or people who have other protection
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for prior exposure to the common colds,
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you could protect the population better
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than we have to date.
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We'll be right back with more Politicking.
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We keep hearing the term, Emergency Use Authorization.
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How does that work?
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Emergency Use Authorization is a shortcut
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that the federal government, the FDA in particular gives
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when we don't know for sure
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if with the traditional path that we always insist on
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whether a medication will work or not.
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We can say, okay, it's an emergency,
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you're allowed to use it for now.
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We're gonna keep studying it.
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Eventually, we're gonna figure out for sure
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that it works or doesn't work,
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That could take months even longer.
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But in the meantime you have permission.
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And it gives doctors the freedom to do whatever they can.
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'Cause when you march the war, Larry,
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you march with the army you have.
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So even if you don't know for sure
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that every tool is perfect,
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at least to have some tools you can use.
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Then you can trust doctors and their clinical acumen
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to make the best judgment for their patients.
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COVID-19 is a new virus.
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What are we learning
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about the potential longterm effects of it?
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What potential chronic effects
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of coronavirus concerns you the most?
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I'm most concerned about brain fog,
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and the emotional impact that the virus has on us.
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Both directly from infecting us
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and causing inflammation in our brain,
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causing blood vessels to clot off
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that may actually cause damage to not just the brain,
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but other organs.
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But also the impact of this infection on isolating people.
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Especially older folks
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who are very dependent on interaction
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with younger members of their family to stay engaged,
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is problematic.
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It's also an issue for younger kids
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who need to be socialized.
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Especially in grade school,
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where we're not able to do that normally.
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So you end up with both direct and indirect impact
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on our outlook.
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Listen Larry, we are designed to realize
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that we are like little raindrops falling
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into the ocean of humanity.
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And when we forget that or not reminded of that,
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because of events like the COVID-19 pandemic.
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It has deleterious impact
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that's harder to measure than you might imagine,
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but it does manifest itself as anxiety levels,
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which are sky high now, compared to the norm.
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And to depression, which has also increased dramatically.
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We have a huge spike in the use of telemedicine
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during this pandemic.
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Any worries about that?
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Telemedicine should have already been increasing.
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It was held back because of pure self-interest.
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Because the state regulations,
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which often were just archaic
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and had fallen behind the times.
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And so I think it's a good thing
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that telemedicine has been freed to grow.
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I mean, if someone has free time on their hands in Manhattan
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and a worker in South Dakota needs support,
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why wouldn't you connect it through people,
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and let them help each other
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and provide a financial model
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for that to happen reproducibly.
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So I think it's a good thing that the States,
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most of them dropped their barriers
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and allow telemedicine to prosper.
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I don't think we're gonna go back to the world
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where these are all limited
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'cause people realized that telemedicine is impactful
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and companies now have grown rapidly
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to benefit from the opportunity to offer telemedicine.
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But you focus on things like our armed forces.
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Where a lot of our vets can't get the care they want
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'cause they live in rural areas
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where it's not easy to get care.
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And you know, they're far away from a psychiatrist
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that could manage their post traumatic stress disorder.
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And that can lead to suicide
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because you're not getting adequate treatment.
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We have the tools with technology to get there.
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Why not use it?
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00:09:39.933 --> 00:09:42.000
It's like saying, we're not going to use zoom anymore
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because it's too far, or you know,
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we want people back in the office.
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Maybe you do, maybe you don't,
274
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but it should be the choice of the people involved
275
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in the conversation.
276
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It seems like every year the flu shot
277
00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:54.200
is earlier and earlier.
278
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I got mine in early August.
279
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First, should everybody get a flu shot?
280
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Everybody should get a flu shot.
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00:10:02.360 --> 00:10:04.430
And I get it every year, as I hope you do.
282
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And as a doctor,
283
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I don't really have a choice in New York state,
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because they really want you protected.
285
00:10:08.890 --> 00:10:11.260
So you don't spread viruses from patient to patient.
286
00:10:11.260 --> 00:10:13.130
But I got to say, if most years,
287
00:10:13.130 --> 00:10:14.330
you're sitting at home thinking,
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I'm not gonna bother,
289
00:10:15.163 --> 00:10:16.260
it's not that big a deal.
290
00:10:16.260 --> 00:10:18.790
And more than half of Americans do not get the flu shot.
291
00:10:18.790 --> 00:10:20.140
So that's a common statement.
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This year, you shouldn't say that.
293
00:10:21.760 --> 00:10:23.510
Because this year, you not only benefit yourself
294
00:10:23.510 --> 00:10:26.130
from avoiding or reducing the chance of getting the flu,
295
00:10:26.130 --> 00:10:27.590
'cause the flu vaccine's not a 100%
296
00:10:27.590 --> 00:10:28.540
but it helps.
297
00:10:28.540 --> 00:10:30.360
But more importantly, for many cases,
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you won't be confused when you have symptoms
299
00:10:32.270 --> 00:10:34.340
of whether you have the flu or COVID-19.
300
00:10:34.340 --> 00:10:36.461
So instead of two weeks of a quarantine
301
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and you know,
302
00:10:37.350 --> 00:10:40.970
being put, you know, put into isolation room in a hospital,
303
00:10:40.970 --> 00:10:43.830
if you take the vaccine for the flu
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and you can avoid getting that illness.
305
00:10:46.270 --> 00:10:49.870
You can jump, you can leapfrog the entire process.
306
00:10:49.870 --> 00:10:51.873
Anyone who shouldn't get a flu shot?
307
00:10:53.220 --> 00:10:54.360
There are rare cases
308
00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:56.550
and the doctors ought to be discussing with them directly
309
00:10:56.550 --> 00:10:58.280
and probably if you shouldn't get the flu shot,
310
00:10:58.280 --> 00:11:00.340
someone's already told you that.
311
00:11:00.340 --> 00:11:03.603
If you have COVID-19, should you still get it?
312
00:11:04.520 --> 00:11:05.730
Absolutely, get the flu shot.
313
00:11:05.730 --> 00:11:08.320
I wouldn't get it right in the middle of COVID-19.
314
00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:10.300
Get past the acute episode.
315
00:11:10.300 --> 00:11:12.320
But you should get the vaccine before you get it,
316
00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:13.920
or right after you've recovered.
317
00:11:15.210 --> 00:11:17.220
Alright, Australia and other countries
318
00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:18.460
in the Southern hemisphere
319
00:11:18.460 --> 00:11:20.640
just finished their easiest,
320
00:11:20.640 --> 00:11:23.720
less serious flu season on record.
321
00:11:23.720 --> 00:11:26.240
Is that a cause for public health optimism
322
00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:27.683
in the United States?
323
00:11:28.770 --> 00:11:31.520
I think those countries had easy flu seasons
324
00:11:31.520 --> 00:11:32.620
because they took advantage
325
00:11:32.620 --> 00:11:34.630
of the lessons learned from COVID-19.
326
00:11:34.630 --> 00:11:36.930
You know, stay away from people, wear masks.
327
00:11:36.930 --> 00:11:38.820
I mean, they did things that naturally reduce
328
00:11:38.820 --> 00:11:39.850
the spread of the flu.
329
00:11:39.850 --> 00:11:42.000
And we could benefit from learning
330
00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:44.160
what the Asians have already learned,
331
00:11:44.160 --> 00:11:46.550
which is, during times of virus spread,
332
00:11:46.550 --> 00:11:48.010
act a little differently.
333
00:11:48.010 --> 00:11:49.820
In America, if you wore a mask in a subway,
334
00:11:49.820 --> 00:11:51.400
people would laugh at you last year.
335
00:11:51.400 --> 00:11:52.860
This year, if you don't wear your mask in a subway,
336
00:11:52.860 --> 00:11:53.920
there's something wrong with you.
337
00:11:53.920 --> 00:11:57.550
So, you know, it's dramatically shifted our expectations
338
00:11:57.550 --> 00:12:00.630
and our vulnerability now is more apparent than most folks.
339
00:12:00.630 --> 00:12:02.980
So, I think we're gonna have a lighter flu season than usual
340
00:12:02.980 --> 00:12:05.630
because of the precautions we're taking for COVID-19.
341
00:12:06.470 --> 00:12:08.430
When in last year, I asked you,
342
00:12:08.430 --> 00:12:10.250
what's the biggest advanced medicine
343
00:12:10.250 --> 00:12:12.320
we've made in the last five years.
344
00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:14.060
You said, immunotherapy.
345
00:12:14.060 --> 00:12:15.463
Why does that work?
346
00:12:16.680 --> 00:12:17.720
Immunotherapy works
347
00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:19.970
because the most powerful tool our body has
348
00:12:19.970 --> 00:12:21.390
and most resilient tool we have
349
00:12:21.390 --> 00:12:23.880
is to respond to invaders from outside of us.
350
00:12:23.880 --> 00:12:26.410
Immunotherapy harvest's that natural power
351
00:12:26.410 --> 00:12:30.290
and allows us to target more precisely, cancer cells,
352
00:12:30.290 --> 00:12:31.850
corona viruses
353
00:12:31.850 --> 00:12:33.500
and ultimately a lot of other problems
354
00:12:33.500 --> 00:12:36.390
that we don't have solutions for right now.
355
00:12:36.390 --> 00:12:39.120
And I think it's an elegant switch
356
00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:41.050
from what we have historically done in medicine.
357
00:12:41.050 --> 00:12:42.340
Which is to cut things out,
358
00:12:42.340 --> 00:12:44.210
to whack things, to burn things.
359
00:12:44.210 --> 00:12:46.030
And instead, you take the subtle power
360
00:12:46.030 --> 00:12:49.740
of our immune system and weaponize it to protect us.
361
00:12:49.740 --> 00:12:51.750
It's a wise way to go.
362
00:12:51.750 --> 00:12:52.970
Doctor Öz, stay right there.
363
00:12:52.970 --> 00:12:55.453
We'll have more Politicking right after this.
364
00:12:58.701 --> 00:12:59.920
Welcome back to Politicking.
365
00:12:59.920 --> 00:13:01.730
We're talking with Dr. Mehmet Öz,
366
00:13:01.730 --> 00:13:03.330
cardiothoracic surgeon,
367
00:13:03.330 --> 00:13:05.690
and host of the Dr. Oz show.
368
00:13:05.690 --> 00:13:07.800 line:15%
Now in season 12.
369
00:13:07.800 --> 00:13:10.050
Did you ever think it would last this long?
370
00:13:10.050 --> 00:13:11.600 line:15%
I remember when you started it.
371
00:13:12.640 --> 00:13:13.810
I remember coming on your show,
372
00:13:13.810 --> 00:13:15.300
literally when we started the program
373
00:13:15.300 --> 00:13:17.640
and Oprah, as you remember my collaborator,
374
00:13:17.640 --> 00:13:20.010
we came on and you were joking earlier
375
00:13:20.010 --> 00:13:21.390
that they said it wouldn't work.
376
00:13:21.390 --> 00:13:23.983
And I was gonna joke that was actually you who said that.
377
00:13:23.983 --> 00:13:25.559
(laughs)
378
00:13:25.559 --> 00:13:29.537
But you know, I've enjoyed watching you in particular,
379
00:13:29.537 --> 00:13:31.240
and the longevity you've had in the field
380
00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:32.650
and the amount of impact you have
381
00:13:32.650 --> 00:13:35.430
and people trust folks that they've been around for a while.
382
00:13:35.430 --> 00:13:36.450
They become part of the family.
383
00:13:36.450 --> 00:13:38.030
So it's been a great honor and I enjoy it
384
00:13:38.030 --> 00:13:39.700
and I can share with you, cause it just,
385
00:13:39.700 --> 00:13:41.830
the news just broke today that the show has been renewed
386
00:13:41.830 --> 00:13:42.810
for another few years.
387
00:13:42.810 --> 00:13:45.783
So, I'll be playing with you through 2023.
388
00:13:46.690 --> 00:13:50.393
Can you step aside from it and explain its success?
389
00:13:51.800 --> 00:13:53.450
I think the main reason this show worked
390
00:13:53.450 --> 00:13:55.750
is because there's so much debate in America
391
00:13:55.750 --> 00:13:56.600
about health.
392
00:13:56.600 --> 00:13:58.740
And a lot of America doesn't get access
393
00:13:58.740 --> 00:14:00.170
to high quality care.
394
00:14:00.170 --> 00:14:01.970
Or they're not sure they're getting access
395
00:14:01.970 --> 00:14:02.880
to the best doctors.
396
00:14:02.880 --> 00:14:05.690
So if I can get in between that relationship
397
00:14:05.690 --> 00:14:08.290
and try to explain what medicine is trying to do
398
00:14:08.290 --> 00:14:12.460
to the lay person, so they walk into the doctor's office,
399
00:14:12.460 --> 00:14:13.293
better educated.
400
00:14:13.293 --> 00:14:14.390
It helps everybody.
401
00:14:14.390 --> 00:14:15.223
Remember Larry,
402
00:14:15.223 --> 00:14:18.020
the word doctor, comes from Latin 'docēre', teacher.
403
00:14:18.020 --> 00:14:19.350
We're supposed to educate.
404
00:14:19.350 --> 00:14:21.520
But if our students don't come to class prepared,
405
00:14:21.520 --> 00:14:23.850
it's not much of an educational process.
406
00:14:23.850 --> 00:14:26.000
So if you can walk into your doctor's office,
407
00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:27.920
knowing that for example,
408
00:14:27.920 --> 00:14:30.196
high blood sugar is a problem.
409
00:14:30.196 --> 00:14:33.190
And you're more engaged in wanting to prevent it
410
00:14:33.190 --> 00:14:34.530
and deal with it if you have it.
411
00:14:34.530 --> 00:14:35.890
It makes it easier for the patient,
412
00:14:35.890 --> 00:14:37.520
for the doctor and everyone involved.
413
00:14:37.520 --> 00:14:39.470
And I think that's what's allowed the show to thrive.
414
00:14:39.470 --> 00:14:41.050
We've been able to reach populations
415
00:14:41.050 --> 00:14:42.500
and meet them where they are.
416
00:14:43.590 --> 00:14:45.490
Always gonna have a studio audience?
417
00:14:46.490 --> 00:14:47.910
Always gonna have a studio audience,
418
00:14:47.910 --> 00:14:49.900
except now, where we're back in the studio
419
00:14:49.900 --> 00:14:51.530
but I can't fill it up with people.
420
00:14:51.530 --> 00:14:53.670
But you know, I get jazzed by studio audience.
421
00:14:53.670 --> 00:14:54.580
It's exciting to me.
422
00:14:54.580 --> 00:14:57.430
I use the studio audience within the show.
423
00:14:57.430 --> 00:14:58.910
They become guests,
424
00:14:58.910 --> 00:15:00.830
they come on when I surprised them,
425
00:15:00.830 --> 00:15:03.300
I can go ask them questions about what we just talked about.
426
00:15:03.300 --> 00:15:05.870
It's that interaction that makes it more intimate
427
00:15:05.870 --> 00:15:06.890
and makes the viewer at home
428
00:15:06.890 --> 00:15:08.670
feel like they're part of this little club,
429
00:15:08.670 --> 00:15:10.853
that's learning something that's special.
430
00:15:11.700 --> 00:15:13.010
With regard to this virus,
431
00:15:13.010 --> 00:15:16.110
what do you regard as the best source of protocols
432
00:15:16.110 --> 00:15:17.583
and guidelines?
433
00:15:18.890 --> 00:15:21.520
Well, when the CDC has got its act together,
434
00:15:21.520 --> 00:15:22.720
they are still the best.
435
00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:24.020
And the CDC, for example,
436
00:15:24.020 --> 00:15:25.530
released a beautiful document
437
00:15:25.530 --> 00:15:27.510
about how to open schools safely.
438
00:15:27.510 --> 00:15:29.310
Now these are complicated documents.
439
00:15:29.310 --> 00:15:31.150
Interpretation, sometimes difficult.
440
00:15:31.150 --> 00:15:32.570
It's sometimes hard to follow
441
00:15:32.570 --> 00:15:34.010
what they're telling you to do,
442
00:15:34.010 --> 00:15:35.810
but they're well thought through
443
00:15:35.810 --> 00:15:36.890
and they're based in science
444
00:15:36.890 --> 00:15:38.820
and usually they're practical
445
00:15:38.820 --> 00:15:40.040
so that we can all follow them.
446
00:15:40.040 --> 00:15:41.840
So I make them the backbone
447
00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:43.900
of the lessons I try to give out now.
448
00:15:43.900 --> 00:15:46.060
In addition, I'm blessed by the ability
449
00:15:46.060 --> 00:15:47.350
to directly get in touch
450
00:15:47.350 --> 00:15:49.260
with the White House Task Force members,
451
00:15:49.260 --> 00:15:50.450
and I can ask them questions.
452
00:15:50.450 --> 00:15:51.450
So they educate me
453
00:15:51.450 --> 00:15:53.500
about what they think is really happening.
454
00:15:53.500 --> 00:15:55.210
So I can get a little bit ahead of the curve
455
00:15:55.210 --> 00:15:56.890
in explaining what's happening.
456
00:15:56.890 --> 00:15:58.270
My biggest concern
457
00:15:58.270 --> 00:16:01.830
is that there's such a fire hose of information flowing
458
00:16:01.830 --> 00:16:03.640
into people's mouths every day
459
00:16:03.640 --> 00:16:05.110
that they start to suffocate.
460
00:16:05.110 --> 00:16:06.930
And they can't figure out what's happening.
461
00:16:06.930 --> 00:16:08.430
And they go back and forth, you know,
462
00:16:08.430 --> 00:16:10.380
yesterday was this, today it's that.
463
00:16:10.380 --> 00:16:12.560
And they can never really get a clear vision
464
00:16:12.560 --> 00:16:13.883
of what their goals are.
465
00:16:14.805 --> 00:16:16.850
And the main message I try to deliver is,
466
00:16:16.850 --> 00:16:20.540
most of what you need to do is, you know, these few things.
467
00:16:20.540 --> 00:16:22.630
Everything else is window dressing.
468
00:16:22.630 --> 00:16:24.570
And so you can talk about those other things.
469
00:16:24.570 --> 00:16:25.570
And they're nice to know about,
470
00:16:25.570 --> 00:16:27.750
but you got to get these basic ideas right.
471
00:16:27.750 --> 00:16:30.570
For example, this whole concept of how the virus spreads.
472
00:16:30.570 --> 00:16:31.870
If you really understand that,
473
00:16:31.870 --> 00:16:34.030
it doesn't have to be a rocket science experiment
474
00:16:34.030 --> 00:16:35.530
to figure out what you have to do in your own life.
475
00:16:35.530 --> 00:16:37.600
There are certain actions that are risky.
476
00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:39.620
There's others that are not as risky.
477
00:16:39.620 --> 00:16:40.530
You can be in the doubt
478
00:16:40.530 --> 00:16:42.940
depending on how much risk you are for complications
479
00:16:42.940 --> 00:16:45.340
and accordingly, you can save people around you.
480
00:16:46.530 --> 00:16:48.507
Where do you hold Dr. Fauci?
481
00:16:48.507 --> 00:16:50.453
Do you hold him in the highest regard?
482
00:16:51.310 --> 00:16:52.860
I do. I like Dr. Fauci a lot.
483
00:16:52.860 --> 00:16:54.290
I think he's had a difficult task
484
00:16:54.290 --> 00:16:56.460
of trying to deal with the politics,
485
00:16:56.460 --> 00:16:58.650
of addressing the nation.
486
00:16:58.650 --> 00:16:59.660
Which is unfortunate
487
00:16:59.660 --> 00:17:01.420
'cause he should be free to speak his mind
488
00:17:01.420 --> 00:17:02.900
about what he believes needs to happen.
489
00:17:02.900 --> 00:17:03.920
On the other hand,
490
00:17:03.920 --> 00:17:06.720
I don't think people sometimes appreciate
491
00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:08.560
the subtlety of what he's talking through.
492
00:17:08.560 --> 00:17:10.770
He's not trying to scare folks.
493
00:17:10.770 --> 00:17:12.240
It's actually, in medicine, generally, you know,
494
00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:13.740
you feel good when you know the truth.
495
00:17:13.740 --> 00:17:16.510
'Cause you can deal with the realities of that.
496
00:17:16.510 --> 00:17:18.360
And so I would never send a patient out of my office,
497
00:17:18.360 --> 00:17:20.250
giving them part of the truth
498
00:17:20.250 --> 00:17:22.090
because I thought, you know, I would take the heat off them.
499
00:17:22.090 --> 00:17:24.140
I would make sure I was trying to express it
500
00:17:24.140 --> 00:17:26.320
in a way that they can understand
501
00:17:26.320 --> 00:17:27.900
and that is empowering to them.
502
00:17:27.900 --> 00:17:30.500
And I think Dr. Fauci has tried his best to do that.
503
00:17:31.500 --> 00:17:35.910
Has anyone in your family been hit with the virus?
504
00:17:35.910 --> 00:17:37.530
We have had members of the family.
505
00:17:37.530 --> 00:17:38.530
I have not.
506
00:17:38.530 --> 00:17:40.240
My antibodies are still negative,
507
00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:42.500
but the fact that I've got kids that had the virus
508
00:17:42.500 --> 00:17:43.680
and I didn't get it,
509
00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:44.660
even though we were staying together
510
00:17:44.660 --> 00:17:47.070
reflects the fact that this virus is not as easy to predict
511
00:17:47.070 --> 00:17:48.270
as you might understand.
512
00:17:49.810 --> 00:17:52.643
How much of this season is gonna be devoted to it?
513
00:17:54.250 --> 00:17:57.110
I would think about 40%,
514
00:17:57.110 --> 00:17:58.357
a little bit less than half the season.
515
00:17:58.357 --> 00:18:00.970
And we are gonna program two days basically
516
00:18:00.970 --> 00:18:01.803
around COVID-19
517
00:18:01.803 --> 00:18:04.940
and the other days will be, true crime or,
518
00:18:04.940 --> 00:18:05.950
I mean this week is a good week
519
00:18:05.950 --> 00:18:06.783
'cause we're launching.
520
00:18:06.783 --> 00:18:08.560
So I've got Paris Hilton on,
521
00:18:08.560 --> 00:18:11.340
speaking about the abuse she says she suffered as a child
522
00:18:11.340 --> 00:18:13.320
that led to a lot of the mishaps
523
00:18:13.320 --> 00:18:14.610
that have occurred in her life.
524
00:18:14.610 --> 00:18:17.090
And the lie that she's lived in many ways.
525
00:18:17.090 --> 00:18:19.723
I've got Mary Kay Letourneau's husband
526
00:18:19.723 --> 00:18:23.260
who remember, she's the high school teacher, who had...
527
00:18:23.260 --> 00:18:24.980
A 30 year old high school teacher
528
00:18:24.980 --> 00:18:26.970
had an affair with a 12 year old kid,
529
00:18:26.970 --> 00:18:28.390
you know, sixth grader.
530
00:18:28.390 --> 00:18:29.730
And went to jail for it.
531
00:18:29.730 --> 00:18:33.490
Yet Vili Fualaau who's on the show, married her,
532
00:18:33.490 --> 00:18:34.610
was always in love with her
533
00:18:34.610 --> 00:18:36.300
and was at her side when she died this summer
534
00:18:36.300 --> 00:18:37.230
from colon cancer.
535
00:18:37.230 --> 00:18:39.740
So those shows are also important.
536
00:18:39.740 --> 00:18:41.350
Jacob Blake's family is joining me.
537
00:18:41.350 --> 00:18:42.610
He was shot seven times.
538
00:18:42.610 --> 00:18:44.020
There's a health angle obviously
539
00:18:44.020 --> 00:18:45.410
'cause how's he gonna recover?
540
00:18:45.410 --> 00:18:46.243
Where's he going?
541
00:18:46.243 --> 00:18:47.076
What does he think about
542
00:18:47.076 --> 00:18:49.420
what's happening around this process?
543
00:18:49.420 --> 00:18:50.450
This' all important,
544
00:18:50.450 --> 00:18:51.900
but I tell you, the number one thing
545
00:18:51.900 --> 00:18:54.820
I'm gonna focus on, Larry, besides COVID-19,
546
00:18:54.820 --> 00:18:56.400
is the fact that there are health disparities
547
00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:58.000
that are massive in this country.
548
00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:00.210
And in particular, race plays a role on that.
549
00:19:00.210 --> 00:19:02.930
Black and Latino people do not have same access to care,
550
00:19:02.930 --> 00:19:05.160
but also even if they're getting healthcare,
551
00:19:05.160 --> 00:19:08.270
their survival rates are dramatically lower than whites.
552
00:19:08.270 --> 00:19:10.370
And a lot of times that's driven by how they're perceived
553
00:19:10.370 --> 00:19:11.580
within the healthcare system.
554
00:19:11.580 --> 00:19:13.770
I'm gonna share something that one of my producers said
555
00:19:13.770 --> 00:19:15.540
that I've heard echoed by other guests.
556
00:19:15.540 --> 00:19:16.690
This is stunning to me.
557
00:19:17.820 --> 00:19:20.360
She said that black men
558
00:19:20.360 --> 00:19:23.911
see the police department,
559
00:19:23.911 --> 00:19:27.453
in a similar way as black women see healthcare.
560
00:19:28.310 --> 00:19:30.030
And I was sort of stunned by that.
561
00:19:30.030 --> 00:19:31.740
And I've always taken great pride as a doctor
562
00:19:31.740 --> 00:19:34.510
and my belief that we provided equitable care.
563
00:19:34.510 --> 00:19:36.870
She says, there's a lot of baggage
564
00:19:36.870 --> 00:19:38.170
that's being carried by black people
565
00:19:38.170 --> 00:19:39.010
in the healthcare system.
566
00:19:39.010 --> 00:19:41.300
And it explains a lot of why, for example,
567
00:19:41.300 --> 00:19:44.190
they're so disproportionately hit by COVID-19.
568
00:19:44.190 --> 00:19:46.703
More with Dr. Öz, right after this.
569
00:19:50.080 --> 00:19:54.330
One of your show topics this week is, bias at the hospital.
570
00:19:54.330 --> 00:19:55.493
What do you mean?
571
00:19:56.900 --> 00:19:57.920
Well, I'll give you some numbers.
572
00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:02.360
I mean, the chance of someone suffering from COVID-19
573
00:20:02.360 --> 00:20:04.980
is twice as high if they're African American or Latino.
574
00:20:04.980 --> 00:20:07.210
Black women are two and a half times more likely to die
575
00:20:07.210 --> 00:20:09.500
from childbirth related causes than whites.
576
00:20:09.500 --> 00:20:10.690
Then here's this interesting,
577
00:20:10.690 --> 00:20:13.370
black infants are roughly twice as likely to die
578
00:20:13.370 --> 00:20:14.720
under the care of a white physician
579
00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:16.620
than under the care of a black physician.
580
00:20:16.620 --> 00:20:18.430
So we need more black doctors
581
00:20:18.430 --> 00:20:20.377
and we've launched this campaign,
582
00:20:20.377 --> 00:20:23.060
#moreblackdoctors for that very reason.
583
00:20:23.060 --> 00:20:25.490
And there's many reasons we don't have as many black doctors
584
00:20:25.490 --> 00:20:26.323
as we should have.
585
00:20:26.323 --> 00:20:28.780
Only 5% of the doctors in the country are black.
586
00:20:28.780 --> 00:20:29.613
Despite, you know,
587
00:20:29.613 --> 00:20:31.440
I think earnest efforts to recruit more people
588
00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:32.440
into medicine.
589
00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:33.690
But we've got to get the message out
590
00:20:33.690 --> 00:20:35.650
to young African American students,
591
00:20:35.650 --> 00:20:37.230
that this is a great field to be in.
592
00:20:37.230 --> 00:20:38.490
Come into healthcare.
593
00:20:38.490 --> 00:20:39.590
I know you're scared of it.
594
00:20:39.590 --> 00:20:41.540
I know oftentimes your experiences weren't positive
595
00:20:41.540 --> 00:20:42.650
as a kid.
596
00:20:42.650 --> 00:20:43.520
Come in and change it.
597
00:20:43.520 --> 00:20:44.353
Make it better.
598
00:20:46.730 --> 00:20:48.810
Your show is also taking a look
599
00:20:48.810 --> 00:20:51.260
at the recovery of Jacob Blake,
600
00:20:51.260 --> 00:20:54.180
who was shot in the back seven times last month
601
00:20:54.180 --> 00:20:56.750
by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
602
00:20:56.750 --> 00:20:58.973
What view is your show taking?
603
00:21:00.500 --> 00:21:01.700
Well, the first thing I would emphasize
604
00:21:01.700 --> 00:21:02.770
is when you speak to the family
605
00:21:02.770 --> 00:21:07.770
and that's what I have done to make the show come alive.
606
00:21:08.060 --> 00:21:09.570
The first thing they want people to know
607
00:21:09.570 --> 00:21:11.420
is no matter what happens to Jacob,
608
00:21:11.420 --> 00:21:13.930
they don't want violence in response to it.
609
00:21:13.930 --> 00:21:16.000
That's not what Jacob's about or what they're about.
610
00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:19.040
And his sisters in particular are real pistols
611
00:21:19.040 --> 00:21:21.610
and they are angry about his injury.
612
00:21:21.610 --> 00:21:23.680
And the fact that he's probably gonna be paralyzed,
613
00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:25.580
although they're praying for recovery,
614
00:21:25.580 --> 00:21:27.820
but they don't want violence and reprisal.
615
00:21:27.820 --> 00:21:29.730
That would be the wrong thing to do
616
00:21:29.730 --> 00:21:31.180
in the name of their brother.
617
00:21:31.180 --> 00:21:34.080
This is a closely knit religious family.
618
00:21:34.080 --> 00:21:35.530
Jacob Blake was clearly wronged
619
00:21:35.530 --> 00:21:37.570
by being shot in the back seven times.
620
00:21:37.570 --> 00:21:40.190
For, under circumstances that are still unclear
621
00:21:40.190 --> 00:21:41.140
to most of us.
622
00:21:41.140 --> 00:21:43.810
But the family is crystal clear on what they need to happen.
623
00:21:43.810 --> 00:21:46.080
Which is Jacob thankfully survived the acute issues.
624
00:21:46.080 --> 00:21:48.390
He has pain and he has rehab issues.
625
00:21:48.390 --> 00:21:50.890
And they wanna get him back to full speed,
626
00:21:50.890 --> 00:21:51.723
as much as possible
627
00:21:51.723 --> 00:21:54.330
without making the country worse for it.
628
00:21:54.330 --> 00:21:55.633
Why didn't he die?
629
00:21:57.210 --> 00:21:58.500
He had excellent medical care.
630
00:21:58.500 --> 00:21:59.850
He was shot through the liver.
631
00:21:59.850 --> 00:22:01.370
He was shot through the kidney.
632
00:22:01.370 --> 00:22:02.930
Those two injuries alone could take you out.
633
00:22:02.930 --> 00:22:04.670
Then he was shot through the stomach, the small bowel,
634
00:22:04.670 --> 00:22:05.503
the large bowel,
635
00:22:05.503 --> 00:22:07.070
and had a lot of intestine taken out.
636
00:22:07.070 --> 00:22:08.700
Again that could kill you.
637
00:22:08.700 --> 00:22:10.440
And then finally two bullets shattered
638
00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:14.120
the first and fourth vertebrae of his lumbar spine.
639
00:22:14.120 --> 00:22:15.430
Also could kill you.
640
00:22:15.430 --> 00:22:17.700
So a little bit of luck, but a lot of great skill.
641
00:22:17.700 --> 00:22:19.440
And he was taken expeditiously to health healthcare,
642
00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:20.350
which makes a difference.
643
00:22:20.350 --> 00:22:21.790
Now, Daniel Prude,
644
00:22:21.790 --> 00:22:22.790
who's also on the show.
645
00:22:22.790 --> 00:22:24.250
You remember, he's a gentleman in Rochester
646
00:22:24.250 --> 00:22:25.970
whose brother called,
647
00:22:25.970 --> 00:22:28.450
said my brother's saying strange things,
648
00:22:28.450 --> 00:22:29.283
please come help me.
649
00:22:29.283 --> 00:22:31.670
He needs to be seen by a psychiatrist.
650
00:22:31.670 --> 00:22:33.080
Instead, police showed up,
651
00:22:33.080 --> 00:22:34.640
put a spit hood on him
652
00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:36.170
and he suffocated and died.
653
00:22:36.170 --> 00:22:37.075
And so, you know,
654
00:22:37.075 --> 00:22:38.670
here's an example of a man
655
00:22:38.670 --> 00:22:40.360
who needed mental health care services.
656
00:22:40.360 --> 00:22:42.290
And we threw the police department at him.
657
00:22:42.290 --> 00:22:44.580
As a nation, we can do better than this.
658
00:22:44.580 --> 00:22:46.330
And I think it puts a lot of unfair pressure
659
00:22:46.330 --> 00:22:47.180
on the police departments,
660
00:22:47.180 --> 00:22:51.000
but also it divides us as a nation even further.
661
00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:53.260
When we cannot manage these healthcare issues,
662
00:22:53.260 --> 00:22:54.150
which are, you know,
663
00:22:54.150 --> 00:22:56.240
because we assume that they're actually
664
00:22:57.450 --> 00:22:58.713
criminal justice issues.
665
00:22:59.780 --> 00:23:02.713
Is racial injustice, a public health issue?
666
00:23:03.620 --> 00:23:06.050
Racial injustice may be our largest public health issue
667
00:23:06.050 --> 00:23:06.883
right now.
668
00:23:06.883 --> 00:23:08.610
And it's not just about the other race.
669
00:23:08.610 --> 00:23:10.807
You know, if you're white and you're hearing me say this,
670
00:23:10.807 --> 00:23:12.960
the problems we're having with African Americans
671
00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:14.130
in the healthcare system
672
00:23:14.130 --> 00:23:15.920
and the lack of equity there,
673
00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:17.940
besides being a stain on our national conscious,
674
00:23:17.940 --> 00:23:19.040
hurts all of healthcare.
675
00:23:19.040 --> 00:23:20.410
Is very expensive.
676
00:23:20.410 --> 00:23:22.227
We waste a lot of money and we don't help people.
677
00:23:22.227 --> 00:23:23.880
And it's the wrong thing to do.
678
00:23:23.880 --> 00:23:28.670
And it also starts to sweep into whites who are poor
679
00:23:28.670 --> 00:23:31.930
and then ultimately lower middle class whites that are poor
680
00:23:31.930 --> 00:23:35.120
and slowly we end up with a two tier health system.
681
00:23:35.120 --> 00:23:36.040
We don't want that,
682
00:23:36.040 --> 00:23:36.900
doctors don't want it,
683
00:23:36.900 --> 00:23:38.810
the healthcare system doesn't function well that way,
684
00:23:38.810 --> 00:23:40.160
and you definitely don't want it.
685
00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:41.250
So let's fix healthcare
686
00:23:41.250 --> 00:23:43.810
so it becomes the first of many steps
687
00:23:43.810 --> 00:23:45.690
we take in this country to offer equity.
688
00:23:45.690 --> 00:23:48.270
We may not agree on all the tactics to get there,
689
00:23:48.270 --> 00:23:51.270
but we can do a lot better than where we are today.
690
00:23:51.270 --> 00:23:53.563
What's the healthiest country in the world?
691
00:23:55.320 --> 00:23:57.240
I'd probably say Denmark, Sweden.
692
00:23:57.240 --> 00:24:00.580
These are countries with very mature public health services.
693
00:24:00.580 --> 00:24:02.560
People feel like they're empowered.
694
00:24:02.560 --> 00:24:04.210
Like they're part of the solution.
695
00:24:04.210 --> 00:24:06.080
And so when they're told to do certain things,
696
00:24:06.080 --> 00:24:07.390
they actually act on that.
697
00:24:07.390 --> 00:24:10.370
And both those countries are very happy as people.
698
00:24:10.370 --> 00:24:11.450
And they're happy as people,
699
00:24:11.450 --> 00:24:14.240
because they don't have the fundamental insecurity
700
00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:17.190
of fearing that if they get sick from a treatable problem,
701
00:24:17.190 --> 00:24:18.053
they could die.
702
00:24:20.090 --> 00:24:22.190
We've seen these forest fires.
703
00:24:22.190 --> 00:24:24.523
Is there a public health concern from that?
704
00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:27.060
The forest fires in California
705
00:24:27.060 --> 00:24:29.110
are creating a massive public health concern.
706
00:24:29.110 --> 00:24:31.410
I'm talking to folks in Utah and Arizona
707
00:24:31.410 --> 00:24:33.290
who are suffocating with bad air,
708
00:24:33.290 --> 00:24:35.760
which is what you're already breathing in California.
709
00:24:35.760 --> 00:24:37.379
But the bigger concern is, you know,
710
00:24:37.379 --> 00:24:38.470
if you have the biggest fires
711
00:24:38.470 --> 00:24:40.280
that we've ever seen all at once,
712
00:24:40.280 --> 00:24:41.113
and there's no reason
713
00:24:41.113 --> 00:24:42.450
why we wouldn't have even bigger ones next year,
714
00:24:42.450 --> 00:24:43.870
this becomes the new normal.
715
00:24:43.870 --> 00:24:46.290
This is toxic material for your lungs.
716
00:24:46.290 --> 00:24:48.280
It predisposes you to other infections,
717
00:24:48.280 --> 00:24:50.280
potentially including COVID-19.
718
00:24:50.280 --> 00:24:52.010
And we have enough other problems in the world
719
00:24:52.010 --> 00:24:53.510
without adding forest fires,
720
00:24:53.510 --> 00:24:55.690
which should be a treatable preventable problem
721
00:24:55.690 --> 00:24:57.020
on top of those.
722
00:24:57.020 --> 00:24:58.096
Dr. Öz, congratulations
723
00:24:58.096 --> 00:25:00.650
on another couple of seasons on television.
724
00:25:00.650 --> 00:25:03.630
You are a delight to know.
725
00:25:03.630 --> 00:25:04.463
God bless you.
726
00:25:04.463 --> 00:25:06.590
Thanks for all leadership and mentorship you've offered me.
727
00:25:06.590 --> 00:25:07.680
Bless you.
728
00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:10.010
We thank Dr. Mehmet Öz for joining us today.
729
00:25:10.010 --> 00:25:11.860
And we thank you for joining us as well
730
00:25:11.860 --> 00:25:13.470
on this edition of Politicking.
731
00:25:13.470 --> 00:25:15.180
Remember, you can join the conversation
732
00:25:15.180 --> 00:25:18.410
on my Facebook page or tweet me @KingsThings.
733
00:25:18.410 --> 00:25:21.220
Don't forget to use the politicking hashtag.
734
00:25:21.220 --> 00:25:24.253 line:15%
And that's all for this edition of Politicking.