Dr. Michael Koren Join Kevin Geddings to reflect on the evolution of medical research ethics from the troubling practices at Willowbrook Hospital in the 1970s to today's patient-centered approach. He connects this progression to John Lennon and Yoko Ono's final major concert, which raised awareness about conditions at the hospital while highlighting how far ethics in clinical trials have advanced.
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Episode Transcript
Welcome to the MedEvidence! Monday Minute Radio
Show hosted by Kevin Geddingsof WSOS S t Augustine Radio and
powered by ENCORE Research Group.
Each Monday morning, Dr.
Michael Koren calls in to bringyou the latest medical updates
with insightful discussions.
Medevidence is where we helpyou navigate the real truth
behind medical research, withboth a clinical and research
(00:20):
perspective.
So sit back, relax and getready to learn about the truth
behind the data in medicine andhealthcare.
This is MedEvidence!
Kevin Geddings (00:30):
Dr.
Michael Koren is joining uslive on the studio line.
He's a medical doctor,cardiologist, research scientist
and we appreciate him takingtime out of his busy schedule to
be with us each and every day.
And, of course, as we talkedabout earlier this morning,
there are always clinical trialsthat are available for you to
consider participating in.
They could really impact yourlife.
You could impact so many otherlives in a great way and we
(00:52):
encourage you to go toEncoreDocs.
com and learn how you canparticipate from right here, in
St.
John's County, in St.
Augustine, right D r.
Koren.
Dr. Michael Koren (01:01):
You got it, Kevin, yeah.
Kevin Geddings (01:03):
Good morning.
Dr. Michael Koren (01:05):
Good morning.
Kevin Geddings (01:05):
Did you watch the golf
watch Rory finally win?
Dr. Michael Koren (01:09):
I did, I did.
There's a lot of drama there,but he was definitely somebody
you wanted to root for.
At least in our household wedid so.
It was exciting to see that hefinally won the career Grand
Slam.
So we're all excited for himand you could see, with the
emotion that he displayed whenhe won, how important it was to
him.
Kevin Geddings (01:29):
Yeah, absolutely Well, great event.
They had great weather.
We did too.
So this morning we wanted totalk a little bit about ethics
and clinical research, right?
Dr. Michael Koren (01:39):
Yeah, yeah, we were just chatting about the
fact that I saw the JohnLennon-Yoko Ono documentary that
was put together by their son,Sean Lennon, called One to One,
and I didn't know what it wasabout when I went to see it, but
I'm definitely a John LennonBeatles fan and I wanted to see
what it was all about.
(02:00):
And it turns out that the One toOne concert was a benefit that
John Lennon and Yoko Ono puttogether for Willowbrook
Hospital, which actually has apersonal connection to me
because Willowbrook was ahospital for mentally
handicapped people they calledit mentally retarded at the time
, as you might recall, and itwas one of the largest and not
(02:22):
the largest facility for peoplethat had these mental
disabilities.
And back in the 60s and theearly 70s it was a really
horrible place, quite frankly,with poor treatment of the
people that were there,including poor treatment from a
research standpoint, which we'llget into in a second.
Okay, but fascinating thatLennon and Yoko Ono put together
(02:50):
a benefit to help the hospitaland to raise awareness about the
bad condition and also to givethe residents a wonderful day.
And it turns out that this wasLennon and Yoko Ono's last major
concert and there wasincredible footage of this
concert that had not beenpreviously released and this
documentary that was puttogether by Sean Lennon
highlighted that footage and Igot to see it in an IMAX theater
(03:12):
with incredible sound andreally incredible video.
So some of the classic Lennonnumbers from the early 70s, like
Instant Karma and Imagine andCold Turkey and Mother, were all
presented and I was blown awayby it, quite frankly.
But it also reminded me of howmuch progress we've made on
medical ethics and researchcompared to the 1970s.
(03:34):
Yeah, absolutely.
Kevin Geddings (03:36):
Well and of course, that's a key part of
what you do every day whenyou're working with patients
here, there are all sorts ofstandards that are designed to
make sure that people feel verycomfortable in what they're
engaged in, right?
Dr. Michael Koren (03:48):
Absolutely.
We have ethics committees and avery, very thoughtful process
to make sure that the risks areminimized and that the benefits
of research are maximized.
And our volunteers are heroesand we make it clear to them
that that's how we feel.
We try to treat them like thatalong the way.
Kevin Geddings (04:06):
Before I let you go too, I want to make sure
people are aware of a greatresource.
For folks that sometimes feellike they get conflicting bits
of health information from allthe sources online, there's a
place they can go, where theycan trust the information, right
, Dr.
Koren.
Dr. Michael Koren (04:21):
That's the Med Evidence! platform and we're
getting a lot of traction onthat.
So thank you for remindingeverybody about that.
Please check it out, pleaselike it, and it's a unique place
where you'll see two physicianswho are very knowledgeable in
an area have a conversationabout something, and there are
notes of truth that come out ofthese conversations that can be
(04:42):
applied for the people who watchthese videos and, of course,
apply that insight to yourfamily members and others that
may be afflicted with thecondition that we're talking
about or the medical issue thatwe're talking about.
So check it out, tell us if youlike it and also you can leave
comments.
So we have an Ask Dr.
Koren section where, if youhave a question, you can get out
(05:04):
there and it'll get brought tomy attention and hopefully we'll
address it.
Kevin Geddings (05:08):
Yeah, yeah, it's very easy.
A great website data thereavailable for you to consume in
all different formats too audiovideo, etc.
Go to medevidence.
comthe Truth Behind the Data that's
medevidence.
com, and if you'd like to learnmore about clinical trials that
could relate to your chronichealth condition or that of a
friend or a loved one, go toencore docs.
(05:30):
com.
And, of course, there areoffices located right next door
to UF Flagler hospital in theWhetstone building.
That's encore docs.
com.
The phone number (904) 730-0166.
Dr.
Koren, travel safely and we'lltalk with you next week, okay.
Dr. Michael Koren (05:49):
You too, have a great week, Kevin.
Announcer (05:50):
Thanks for joining the MedEvidence! podcast.
To learn more, head over toMedEvidence.
com or subscribe to our podcaston your favorite podcast
platform.
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