Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome to the weekly show here on iHeartRadio
on ninety three to nine, Light FM one All three five,
Kiss FM, and Rock ninety five to five. I'm Paulina,
and every week we're here to discuss topics that matter
to Chicagoland, from health, education, to finances and so much more.
Today on the show, we're chatting with our friends at
Loried Children's Hospital, and we're talking to the Sporny family
(00:21):
guarding Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and their beautiful daughter as well.
And we are speaking with doctor Gary Price because there's
a saying used increasingly over the last five years, if
you can't trust your doctor, who can you trust? These days,
more and more Americans are questioning whether they trust their physicians,
in part because of misinformation and disinformation. We discuss what
(00:42):
the medical establishment is trying to do about this with
doctor Gary Price, president of the Physician's Foundation. So let's
kick off the show.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
I've got a saying I've been forced to use increasingly
over the last five or ten years or so, if
you can't trust the doctor, who can you trust? And increasingly,
and in many cases understandably, more and more Americans are
questioning whether they can trust their physicians in part because
of so much misinformation and disinformation out there. Let's talk
(01:12):
about it as we bring in doctor Gary Price. He
is a board member and current president of the Physicians Foundation.
Doctor Price, I appreciate the time.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Thank you, Manny. Great to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
So how did we get to this point where an
increasing number of Americans are questioning whether the information they're
getting from their physicians is trustworthy.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Well, that's a great question, Mannie. I'm not sure I
have the complete answer. Of course, miss and disinformation are
nothing new. They've been around for centuries, used by politicians, generals, entrepreneurs.
That's really not new. I think what has changed, of course,
our new channels of communication, particularly social media, which makes
(01:57):
it far easier to spread information quickly into large numbers
of people. I suspect that polarization of our regular media
channels has contributed a little bit as well.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I don't think there's any question about that. You with
the Foundation launched a study to research this problem, because obviously,
if Americans aren't trusting the advice they're getting from their doctors,
I think in the long run, it probably makes us
a less healthy country.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I think you're right, Manny.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
You know.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Our survey reveals that physicians across the board agree that
misinformation and disinformation are more of a problem than they
were five years ago. More importantly, they're also telling us
that misinformation and disinformation are having a real impact on
our ability to deliver quality care to our patients.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
How much of the lack of trust or the losing
I guess of trust in our physicians should doctors take
responsibility for or let me say, the medical establishment are
public health officials?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Yeah, that's a really good question, And you know, I
think in the end whether I don't think it's a
question of them liking it or not, but ultimately, you know,
our society does hold physicians accountable for the health outcomes
of our patients in one way or another to a
great degree. Having said that, although I don't think physicians
(03:20):
are the main source of this evolving problem, I think
it really is has a great deal to do with
how channels of communication have evolved. I think physicians are
part of the solution.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
How do we turn things around? How do physicians address
the skepticism? Your research found I think it was sixty
one percent physicians reported dealing with patients who'd been exposed
to either misinformation or disinformation, which are two separate things,
but that's a different issue.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
That's right, man. They sixty one percent report that their
patients had been influenced in healthcare decisions at least to
a moderate amount in the past last year by misinformation
or disinformation, and fifty seven percent of our positions felt
it had a significant impact on the care they could deliver.
I think the situation raises challenges and opportunities, Manny. Our
(04:15):
public health system, government agencies, the scientific community, and yes,
even the positions in their offices need to make a
concerted effort to learn better ways to efficiently communicate consistent, accurate,
and trustworthy information in an understandable way to our patients. Moreover,
(04:37):
we need to better understand how to get that information
to them where they're comfortable and used to receiving it.
That's the challenge.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
It is the challenge. I started off the segment talking
about how I have a saying if you can't trust
your doctor, who can your trust? Have another saying that
I increasingly use, as well as you can't reason with
unreasonable people, And you talked about our polarization the country.
It seems increasingly like not only do we question facts,
but when you present people from with facts, they refuse
(05:08):
to accept them. And when we're talking about in a
medical setting, in a health setting, that puts potentially puts
lives at risks. So how do you address that?
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Absolutely, That's where I see the opportunity is Manny. I
think we need to really take a hard look at
the way the scientific and health community has traditionally delivered
information to not only each other, but to the public
at large, and we need to look at that with
the same energy and attention to detail as we would
(05:44):
to developing a new drug or trying to figure out
how to do a new operation. We've just never really
had to do that before. But I have another question,
why can't the same channels which have been able to
convey misinformation so well also be used just as effectively
to get reliable information to our patients so they can
(06:06):
make better informed choices about their health. I think we
can do that better. I think by first of all,
understanding the way a lot of our patients get their
information and how they decide what to trust. We need
to do actual research on this and then figure out
how we can reach them in a place where they
will listen I think you're absolutely right arguing with someone
(06:29):
about misinformation that they may be convinced is true. It's
not the right way to do it. The way we
need to reach people is, as you said, in a
way that they trust, and that's placed in a way
they can understand, in a place where they're used to
getting trusted information. And I think the science of that
hasn't had as much attention as as it needs.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
I think part of the other problem that we're seeing
in our country right now is you mentioned social media.
There are so many quote unquote health influencers on social media.
Many of them, if you sit back and listen and
do your research, make a really good case, but have
no bearing on science or reality. And people believe these things.
(07:14):
That's how they become influencers, and it's difficult to unerring
a bell. Once somebody believes.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Something, you're absolutely right, and you know, as scientists, as physicians,
we actually get a lot of training on how to
interpret a scientific study, for example, and figure out if
what the data is purported to show really is doing that.
I think part of the problem is these complicated studies
(07:40):
then get presented to the public who really doesn't have
that background and they often get interpreted by people who
don't necessarily understand the issues in as much detail as
they might. I think that's where we've let the public down,
and I think that we have to really re examine
how our whole scientific capparatus communicates with our population.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Have a few more minutes here with doctor Gary Price.
He is the president of the Physician's Foundation. So we've
talked about social media and influencers and the role they
play in misinformation and disinformation. The other thing is the
Internet as a whole, right, doctor Google, as it's become
(08:23):
known where people Americans go out and do their own
research and then come in to see their doctor and
believe they're better in form than the physician who's got
you know, a ten, twelve, fourteen years of medical training.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Absolutely, that's a very common scenario, and as you pointed
out that at that point it's a little too late
to try to dissuade someone from an opinion that's sort
of been baked in. I think that points to the
need for us to look at the way patients get
that information. You know, one interesting data point in our
(08:56):
survey when we ask physicians if they fell comfortable having
the skills and the tools to deal with this. Almost
almost one percent said yes they did. But this is
in the face of the fact that we've been losing
ground well something as basic as immunization rates. It's pretty
(09:17):
obvious that we could do a better job, and I
think we've gotten a little too comfortable with the ways
we've traditionally done that, and we really need to take
a hard look at how we can do that better,
because the data suggests we're not doing it quite as
well as we think we are.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
I'm guessing from that answer that the Foundation doesn't see
this research as some sort of one off research piece,
but part of a broader, long term initiative on how
to address these problems.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
You know, it's an old axiom in the scientific world
that a really good study raises way more questions than
an answers, and I think that's what we're looking for
the survey. We need some fre native questions to arise
out of this and start to find the answer so
we can do a better job for our patients. We
need to hold our government agencies, our public health apparatus,
(10:10):
and the scientific community itself too accountable to make sure
we deliver consistent, reliable, and accurate information.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Artificial intelligence. We've addressed doctor, Google, social media, and now
a potential new problem, if you will, artificial intelligence, the
fact that it is far from perfect, and the kind
of information the public might get from that when it
comes to health and medicine.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Absolutely, one of our big concerns about AI is the
fact that AI can hallucinate and make stuff up. Of
course humans can do that too. Yeah, that's evolving so quickly.
I don't. I think it's raised a lot more questions
than we've answered so far.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
How would you or could you? Even at the foundation
track whether whether interventions by physicians are actually reducing misinformation's
rate on care and the quality of care.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Oh, I think that can be done, and I think
that research is beginning. There are groups that are interested
in how one establishes trust. But let's just say that
you and I decided that a consistent social media presence
by a trustworthy physician who delivered consistent information might make
(11:31):
a difference. If you could establish a relationship with patients
online over a period of a year or two, would
that be more effective in delivering health information than say,
a fifteen minute visit with your physician. I suspect. The
answer to that might be yes, but it would take
a study to demonstrate that.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
How important is it in physicians in the public health
community not minimize ideas or misinformation or disinformation when they
hear it from their patients or the public at large.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
I think that's critically important, and there have been some
studies about dealing with misinformation that point in that direction. Manny,
I think it's really important to acknowledge the concern that
brought about whatever misinformation is being referred to, because usually
there's a little bit of truth behind all of it. Yes,
(12:28):
but then one has to dispassionately and in an understandable
way explain the reasons why that particular concern or issue
as it was raised isn't really getting to the real
point about what the decision the patient's making.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
We've got long term issues with a lack of nurses
in our country, long term issues with doctors, at least
in certain areas of medicine in our country. Will will
the public not trusting our physicians exacerbate the problems with
shortages of doctors and nurses.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
I think it will. I think even more than the shortage.
You know, even if the number of physicians stayed the same.
The majority of them now are employed and their employers
are telling them pretty regularly that they can't spend more
than fifteen minutes with the patient. They can only address
whatever the appointment was scheduled for. They're going to have
(13:32):
to spend a significant amount of time getting pre approval
of whatever treatment they recommend. There's no longer any time
there to do. What we know, survey after survey has
revealed that what physicians really love about their jobs is
the ability to spend time with their patients. So this
is a source of tremendous frustration and a real challenge
(13:54):
for physicians and getting good information across contrasts that with
social media, which is on your hip in your cell
phone twenty four to seven, with immediate access to a
large community of people. It's a tremendous challenge.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Last thing for you, doctor Price, with your years of
education and armed with this research you've done, make your
best case to listeners along two hundred and thirty something
plus radio stations why they should trust the information they
get from their physicians.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Well, I think what we know from other surveys is
that while our patients across the country are skeptical of
our healthcare system and physicians in general, and we can
understand that they still rank their own physician very high
among the people they trust and as a source of information.
They have every reason to continue to feel that way.
(14:49):
And I can tell you that their physicians very much
want to have these discussions with them, and they very
much want to learn to do a better job at it.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
You're right, at least that's a solid basis for starting
this thing. Doctor Gary Price, the president of the Physicians Foundation,
thanks so much for the conversation the information. Best of luck.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Thank you, Manny. I have a great day.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Hello, it's iHeartMedia Chicago. Paulina is here and we are today.
You know, we are chatting with two very important family
members that I am very excited to introduce to the show.
But before we get started, September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month,
and today we are truly honored to share the story
of one extraordinary young woman. Her name is Meghan and
(15:34):
who her courage continues to inspire hope. Meghan was a vibrant,
determined teenager who faced her brain tumor with incredible strength
and even through surgeries, chemotherapy, and clinical trials, she never
stopped fighting or believing in a brighter future for other
children just like her, and her final wish was simple
yet so powerful, to share her story so that more
(15:54):
kids would have more hope and have more time and
more chances. So today joining us, we have Meghan's family,
We have e J. Klegis and Karen Sporney. How are
you today?
Speaker 5 (16:05):
Oh great, Paulina, Thanks for having us.
Speaker 4 (16:08):
Absolutely, thank you for being here. I really appreciate it.
And you know you've made it your mission to fulfill
her wish. Through Meghan's wish, we're talking a race to
raise one million dollars for pediatric cancer, supporting life saving
research at Lurie's Children's Hospital. So thank you for being here,
and thank you for sharing Meghan's incredible just legacy with
us as well.
Speaker 6 (16:29):
Thank you for letting us do it.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Absolutely first and foremost, I mean, I just really would
love to chat with you both, you know, about Megan.
Can you kind of tell us just all about your
daughter and sort of to share you know, her story
with us, you know, and and of course how Lurie's children,
because that's who we're also here to, you know, talk
about kind of the support that you've received from Lurie's.
(16:52):
So talk to us about Meghan.
Speaker 6 (16:55):
So, Meghan was your typical teenage girl. She was an athlete.
Cross country was really her passion. She did triathlons just
for fun and she was really focused on that from
a very young age. A great student when but when
she was fourteen it just started high school. She had
(17:16):
a cross country race and then the very next that
evening went to homecoming. Had everything seemed to be fine.
In the next morning, she just woke up and she
said her legs were heavy. She wasn't feeling quite right.
We thought it was like a long, long day beforehand,
maybe just tired overdid it, things like that. But as
the day progressed, her legs became more and more unsteady,
(17:38):
to the point where we took her to the doctor
to try to see what was going on. They were unclear,
but through that evening her function got worse and worse.
It got to the point where she couldn't stand or
use her legs at all, and we were rushed to
children Lurry Children's where they did an MRI and they
found a tumor in her spinal cord and she was
(17:59):
rushed Russian to surgery to have that removed. So yeah,
at Lurie's. She treated there in their Neurn Collegy department.
She battled her cancer for about four and a half
years through different treatments and clinical trials.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Wow. And you know, speaking obviously of Megan and you know,
your beautiful daughter, when when you think about her, what
are some of the qualities or moments that you want
people to remember the most about her?
Speaker 6 (18:31):
Right?
Speaker 4 (18:31):
What message do you hope the other families you take
away from her story, the one that you just shared with.
Speaker 7 (18:35):
Us, you know, for Megan, I would love people to
take away the tenacity that she faced that tumor with.
She fought for you know, nearly five years, and the
whole time she also wanted to experience life in the
best way that she could. So not only did she
fight her cancer and go through numerous treatments and different
(18:58):
protocols to be a to try and find a cure,
she also was a vibrant high schooler. She went to
all the dances, she was in the.
Speaker 5 (19:09):
National Honor Society.
Speaker 7 (19:10):
She had goals and she just kept revising those goals
depending on what her health allowed. But cancer wasn't going
to get in the way of her life. And I
think that's really the important element of her legacy, is
that you can accomplish things with cancer.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
Absolutely absolutely agree. And Megan, you know, she faced such
incredible challenges, but yet she continued to kind of achieve
just so much. And I want to know where that
strength and determination came from. Was it from her mom,
her community, school, Where did that come from?
Speaker 7 (19:44):
I think it comes from all of that, the school,
her friends, her family. But then just being a devoted athlete,
she was used to having setbacks. And when you have
a setback as an athlete, you put together a training
plan to overcome that and keep moving on. And so
that's really how she attacked all of this. You know,
(20:06):
when cancer finally eventually took away her ability to walk,
you know, she was a runner, and she was now
using a wheelchair as her mobility, and so she pivoted
and became a wheelchair pushrim athlete. So there are alternatives
to almost anything that comes along if you can look
(20:26):
on the bright side.
Speaker 4 (20:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (20:29):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
What's one thing that you want everyone to remember when
it comes to.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
Megan, I think is her kindness and concern and forethought
for others, even though she was going through such a
tremendous battle, finding cancer, becoming a full time wheelchair user,
figuring out how to navigate life in her body that
(20:53):
was ever changing. When she passed, one of the things
that we heard was stories from people from her friends,
but people also that we weren't that close to how
her kindness helped them as they were negotiating high school
or as they had some sort of event in their life,
that she was always there for them. And her last
act that she did when we were setting up her
(21:16):
hospice getting ready to go home for end of life care,
she asked to donate and did donate her brain and
spinal cord to research because she wanted to do whatever
she could to continue to fight even when she wasn't
here and to help children that are battling. Unfortunately, we'll
have to battle even when she was gone.
Speaker 5 (21:39):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
Oh EJ. Karen, I appreciate you both coming on to
tell us the story you know of your daughter Megan,
and for sharing this with our community as well. And
even though September has ended, you know we can still
make a difference through Luria's Children's Cancer Awareness campaign and
Luri's Children's is working to raise one million dollars for
kids with cancer, and the need continue is beyond you know,
(22:00):
just one month of course, So how can we the listeners,
the community best on Oor Megan's legacy and support families
who are also going through what you experienced.
Speaker 7 (22:09):
I think first and foremost would be to donate to
the campaign. There are research ideas and research sitting on
scientists desks that are unfunded right now and that might
be the cure for another family.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
So first and foremost, if.
Speaker 7 (22:26):
You can donate, if you have that in your means,
going to LORI Children's dot org slash cancer and making
that donation would be fantastic. Every dollar that they collect
is going towards.
Speaker 5 (22:39):
Helping save the children that are going to be impacted.
Speaker 7 (22:42):
The next if donation is not within something that you
can do raising awareness of a pediatric cancer and the
need for research and just supporting families in other ways
through your time through donation, but through raising awareness across
our great city is going to help all of these children.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
That's going to help Urry Children's give better treatments for
our kids.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Absolutely, So, EJ and Karen thank you this morning, family
for being here with us today. We appreciate you very,
very much. Thank you for sharing the legacy of Megan
as well, and we are going to you know, continue
to keep fighting, keep funding, and I'm really certain that
somebody who needed to hear this today will hear this,
so thank you for doing that.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
Thank you so much, Paulina, Thank.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
You, thank you, and thank you for listening to the
Weekly Show here on iHeartRadio on ninety three nine light
FM one All three five Kids at Them and Rock
ninety five to five replaced this episode in all previous
episodes up on our free iHeartRadio app, you can search
for the Weekly Show and if you or someone you
know should be on the Weekly Show, please reach out
to me at Paulina at iHeartMedia dot com and I
(23:51):
will try my absolute best to try to get to
you on the Weekly Show. If you're somebody who's making
a difference right here in our city, in our suburbs.
Thank you again so much. Please search for this episode
and all previous episodes on our free iHeartRadio app by
simply searching for the Weekly Show, and we'll talk to
you again next weekend. Be safe, Chicago,
Hello, and welcome to the weekly show here on iHeartRadio
on ninety three to nine, Light FM one All three five,
Kiss FM, and Rock ninety five to five. I'm Paulina,
and every week we're here to discuss topics that matter
to Chicagoland, from health, education, to finances and so much more.
Today on the show, we're chatting with our friends at
Loried Children's Hospital, and we're talking to the Sporny family
(00:21):
guarding Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and their beautiful daughter as well.
And we are speaking with doctor Gary Price because there's
a saying used increasingly over the last five years, if
you can't trust your doctor, who can you trust? These days,
more and more Americans are questioning whether they trust their physicians,
in part because of misinformation and disinformation. We discuss what
(00:42):
the medical establishment is trying to do about this with
doctor Gary Price, president of the Physician's Foundation. So let's
kick off the show.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
I've got a saying I've been forced to use increasingly
over the last five or ten years or so, if
you can't trust the doctor, who can you trust? And increasingly,
and in many cases understandably, more and more Americans are
questioning whether they can trust their physicians in part because
of so much misinformation and disinformation out there. Let's talk
(01:12):
about it as we bring in doctor Gary Price. He
is a board member and current president of the Physicians Foundation.
Doctor Price, I appreciate the time.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Thank you, Manny. Great to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
So how did we get to this point where an
increasing number of Americans are questioning whether the information they're
getting from their physicians is trustworthy.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Well, that's a great question, Mannie. I'm not sure I
have the complete answer. Of course, miss and disinformation are
nothing new. They've been around for centuries, used by politicians, generals, entrepreneurs.
That's really not new. I think what has changed, of course,
our new channels of communication, particularly social media, which makes
(01:57):
it far easier to spread information quickly into large numbers
of people. I suspect that polarization of our regular media
channels has contributed a little bit as well.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I don't think there's any question about that. You with
the Foundation launched a study to research this problem, because obviously,
if Americans aren't trusting the advice they're getting from their doctors,
I think in the long run, it probably makes us
a less healthy country.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I think you're right, Manny.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
You know.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Our survey reveals that physicians across the board agree that
misinformation and disinformation are more of a problem than they
were five years ago. More importantly, they're also telling us
that misinformation and disinformation are having a real impact on
our ability to deliver quality care to our patients.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
How much of the lack of trust or the losing
I guess of trust in our physicians should doctors take
responsibility for or let me say, the medical establishment are
public health officials?
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Yeah, that's a really good question, And you know, I
think in the end whether I don't think it's a
question of them liking it or not, but ultimately, you know,
our society does hold physicians accountable for the health outcomes
of our patients in one way or another to a
great degree. Having said that, although I don't think physicians
(03:20):
are the main source of this evolving problem, I think
it really is has a great deal to do with
how channels of communication have evolved. I think physicians are
part of the solution.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
How do we turn things around? How do physicians address
the skepticism? Your research found I think it was sixty
one percent physicians reported dealing with patients who'd been exposed
to either misinformation or disinformation, which are two separate things,
but that's a different issue.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
That's right, man. They sixty one percent report that their
patients had been influenced in healthcare decisions at least to
a moderate amount in the past last year by misinformation
or disinformation, and fifty seven percent of our positions felt
it had a significant impact on the care they could deliver.
I think the situation raises challenges and opportunities, Manny. Our
(04:15):
public health system, government agencies, the scientific community, and yes,
even the positions in their offices need to make a
concerted effort to learn better ways to efficiently communicate consistent, accurate,
and trustworthy information in an understandable way to our patients. Moreover,
(04:37):
we need to better understand how to get that information
to them where they're comfortable and used to receiving it.
That's the challenge.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
It is the challenge. I started off the segment talking
about how I have a saying if you can't trust
your doctor, who can your trust? Have another saying that
I increasingly use, as well as you can't reason with
unreasonable people, And you talked about our polarization the country.
It seems increasingly like not only do we question facts,
but when you present people from with facts, they refuse
(05:08):
to accept them. And when we're talking about in a
medical setting, in a health setting, that puts potentially puts
lives at risks. So how do you address that?
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Absolutely, That's where I see the opportunity is Manny. I
think we need to really take a hard look at
the way the scientific and health community has traditionally delivered
information to not only each other, but to the public
at large, and we need to look at that with
the same energy and attention to detail as we would
(05:44):
to developing a new drug or trying to figure out
how to do a new operation. We've just never really
had to do that before. But I have another question,
why can't the same channels which have been able to
convey misinformation so well also be used just as effectively
to get reliable information to our patients so they can
(06:06):
make better informed choices about their health. I think we
can do that better. I think by first of all,
understanding the way a lot of our patients get their
information and how they decide what to trust. We need
to do actual research on this and then figure out
how we can reach them in a place where they
will listen I think you're absolutely right arguing with someone
(06:29):
about misinformation that they may be convinced is true. It's
not the right way to do it. The way we
need to reach people is, as you said, in a
way that they trust, and that's placed in a way
they can understand, in a place where they're used to
getting trusted information. And I think the science of that
hasn't had as much attention as as it needs.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
I think part of the other problem that we're seeing
in our country right now is you mentioned social media.
There are so many quote unquote health influencers on social media.
Many of them, if you sit back and listen and
do your research, make a really good case, but have
no bearing on science or reality. And people believe these things.
(07:14):
That's how they become influencers, and it's difficult to unerring
a bell. Once somebody believes.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Something, you're absolutely right, and you know, as scientists, as physicians,
we actually get a lot of training on how to
interpret a scientific study, for example, and figure out if
what the data is purported to show really is doing that.
I think part of the problem is these complicated studies
(07:40):
then get presented to the public who really doesn't have
that background and they often get interpreted by people who
don't necessarily understand the issues in as much detail as
they might. I think that's where we've let the public down,
and I think that we have to really re examine
how our whole scientific capparatus communicates with our population.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Have a few more minutes here with doctor Gary Price.
He is the president of the Physician's Foundation. So we've
talked about social media and influencers and the role they
play in misinformation and disinformation. The other thing is the
Internet as a whole, right, doctor Google, as it's become
(08:23):
known where people Americans go out and do their own
research and then come in to see their doctor and
believe they're better in form than the physician who's got
you know, a ten, twelve, fourteen years of medical training.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Absolutely, that's a very common scenario, and as you pointed
out that at that point it's a little too late
to try to dissuade someone from an opinion that's sort
of been baked in. I think that points to the
need for us to look at the way patients get
that information. You know, one interesting data point in our
(08:56):
survey when we ask physicians if they fell comfortable having
the skills and the tools to deal with this. Almost
almost one percent said yes they did. But this is
in the face of the fact that we've been losing
ground well something as basic as immunization rates. It's pretty
(09:17):
obvious that we could do a better job, and I
think we've gotten a little too comfortable with the ways
we've traditionally done that, and we really need to take
a hard look at how we can do that better,
because the data suggests we're not doing it quite as
well as we think we are.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
I'm guessing from that answer that the Foundation doesn't see
this research as some sort of one off research piece,
but part of a broader, long term initiative on how
to address these problems.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
You know, it's an old axiom in the scientific world
that a really good study raises way more questions than
an answers, and I think that's what we're looking for
the survey. We need some fre native questions to arise
out of this and start to find the answer so
we can do a better job for our patients. We
need to hold our government agencies, our public health apparatus,
(10:10):
and the scientific community itself too accountable to make sure
we deliver consistent, reliable, and accurate information.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Artificial intelligence. We've addressed doctor, Google, social media, and now
a potential new problem, if you will, artificial intelligence, the
fact that it is far from perfect, and the kind
of information the public might get from that when it
comes to health and medicine.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Absolutely, one of our big concerns about AI is the
fact that AI can hallucinate and make stuff up. Of
course humans can do that too. Yeah, that's evolving so quickly.
I don't. I think it's raised a lot more questions
than we've answered so far.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
How would you or could you? Even at the foundation
track whether whether interventions by physicians are actually reducing misinformation's
rate on care and the quality of care.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Oh, I think that can be done, and I think
that research is beginning. There are groups that are interested
in how one establishes trust. But let's just say that
you and I decided that a consistent social media presence
by a trustworthy physician who delivered consistent information might make
(11:31):
a difference. If you could establish a relationship with patients
online over a period of a year or two, would
that be more effective in delivering health information than say,
a fifteen minute visit with your physician. I suspect. The
answer to that might be yes, but it would take
a study to demonstrate that.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
How important is it in physicians in the public health
community not minimize ideas or misinformation or disinformation when they
hear it from their patients or the public at large.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
I think that's critically important, and there have been some
studies about dealing with misinformation that point in that direction. Manny,
I think it's really important to acknowledge the concern that
brought about whatever misinformation is being referred to, because usually
there's a little bit of truth behind all of it. Yes,
(12:28):
but then one has to dispassionately and in an understandable
way explain the reasons why that particular concern or issue
as it was raised isn't really getting to the real
point about what the decision the patient's making.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
We've got long term issues with a lack of nurses
in our country, long term issues with doctors, at least
in certain areas of medicine in our country. Will will
the public not trusting our physicians exacerbate the problems with
shortages of doctors and nurses.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
I think it will. I think even more than the shortage.
You know, even if the number of physicians stayed the same.
The majority of them now are employed and their employers
are telling them pretty regularly that they can't spend more
than fifteen minutes with the patient. They can only address
whatever the appointment was scheduled for. They're going to have
(13:32):
to spend a significant amount of time getting pre approval
of whatever treatment they recommend. There's no longer any time
there to do. What we know, survey after survey has
revealed that what physicians really love about their jobs is
the ability to spend time with their patients. So this
is a source of tremendous frustration and a real challenge
(13:54):
for physicians and getting good information across contrasts that with
social media, which is on your hip in your cell
phone twenty four to seven, with immediate access to a
large community of people. It's a tremendous challenge.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Last thing for you, doctor Price, with your years of
education and armed with this research you've done, make your
best case to listeners along two hundred and thirty something
plus radio stations why they should trust the information they
get from their physicians.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Well, I think what we know from other surveys is
that while our patients across the country are skeptical of
our healthcare system and physicians in general, and we can
understand that they still rank their own physician very high
among the people they trust and as a source of information.
They have every reason to continue to feel that way.
(14:49):
And I can tell you that their physicians very much
want to have these discussions with them, and they very
much want to learn to do a better job at it.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
You're right, at least that's a solid basis for starting
this thing. Doctor Gary Price, the president of the Physicians Foundation,
thanks so much for the conversation the information. Best of luck.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Thank you, Manny. I have a great day.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Hello, it's iHeartMedia Chicago. Paulina is here and we are today.
You know, we are chatting with two very important family
members that I am very excited to introduce to the show.
But before we get started, September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month,
and today we are truly honored to share the story
of one extraordinary young woman. Her name is Meghan and
(15:34):
who her courage continues to inspire hope. Meghan was a vibrant,
determined teenager who faced her brain tumor with incredible strength
and even through surgeries, chemotherapy, and clinical trials, she never
stopped fighting or believing in a brighter future for other
children just like her, and her final wish was simple
yet so powerful, to share her story so that more
(15:54):
kids would have more hope and have more time and
more chances. So today joining us, we have Meghan's family,
We have e J. Klegis and Karen Sporney. How are
you today?
Speaker 5 (16:05):
Oh great, Paulina, Thanks for having us.
Speaker 4 (16:08):
Absolutely, thank you for being here. I really appreciate it.
And you know you've made it your mission to fulfill
her wish. Through Meghan's wish, we're talking a race to
raise one million dollars for pediatric cancer, supporting life saving
research at Lurie's Children's Hospital. So thank you for being here,
and thank you for sharing Meghan's incredible just legacy with
us as well.
Speaker 6 (16:29):
Thank you for letting us do it.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Absolutely first and foremost, I mean, I just really would
love to chat with you both, you know, about Megan.
Can you kind of tell us just all about your
daughter and sort of to share you know, her story
with us, you know, and and of course how Lurie's children,
because that's who we're also here to, you know, talk
about kind of the support that you've received from Lurie's.
(16:52):
So talk to us about Meghan.
Speaker 6 (16:55):
So, Meghan was your typical teenage girl. She was an athlete.
Cross country was really her passion. She did triathlons just
for fun and she was really focused on that from
a very young age. A great student when but when
she was fourteen it just started high school. She had
(17:16):
a cross country race and then the very next that
evening went to homecoming. Had everything seemed to be fine.
In the next morning, she just woke up and she
said her legs were heavy. She wasn't feeling quite right.
We thought it was like a long, long day beforehand,
maybe just tired overdid it, things like that. But as
the day progressed, her legs became more and more unsteady,
(17:38):
to the point where we took her to the doctor
to try to see what was going on. They were unclear,
but through that evening her function got worse and worse.
It got to the point where she couldn't stand or
use her legs at all, and we were rushed to
children Lurry Children's where they did an MRI and they
found a tumor in her spinal cord and she was
(17:59):
rushed Russian to surgery to have that removed. So yeah,
at Lurie's. She treated there in their Neurn Collegy department.
She battled her cancer for about four and a half
years through different treatments and clinical trials.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Wow. And you know, speaking obviously of Megan and you know,
your beautiful daughter, when when you think about her, what
are some of the qualities or moments that you want
people to remember the most about her?
Speaker 6 (18:31):
Right?
Speaker 4 (18:31):
What message do you hope the other families you take
away from her story, the one that you just shared with.
Speaker 7 (18:35):
Us, you know, for Megan, I would love people to
take away the tenacity that she faced that tumor with.
She fought for you know, nearly five years, and the
whole time she also wanted to experience life in the
best way that she could. So not only did she
fight her cancer and go through numerous treatments and different
(18:58):
protocols to be a to try and find a cure,
she also was a vibrant high schooler. She went to
all the dances, she was in the.
Speaker 5 (19:09):
National Honor Society.
Speaker 7 (19:10):
She had goals and she just kept revising those goals
depending on what her health allowed. But cancer wasn't going
to get in the way of her life. And I
think that's really the important element of her legacy, is
that you can accomplish things with cancer.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
Absolutely absolutely agree. And Megan, you know, she faced such
incredible challenges, but yet she continued to kind of achieve
just so much. And I want to know where that
strength and determination came from. Was it from her mom,
her community, school, Where did that come from?
Speaker 7 (19:44):
I think it comes from all of that, the school,
her friends, her family. But then just being a devoted athlete,
she was used to having setbacks. And when you have
a setback as an athlete, you put together a training
plan to overcome that and keep moving on. And so
that's really how she attacked all of this. You know,
(20:06):
when cancer finally eventually took away her ability to walk,
you know, she was a runner, and she was now
using a wheelchair as her mobility, and so she pivoted
and became a wheelchair pushrim athlete. So there are alternatives
to almost anything that comes along if you can look
(20:26):
on the bright side.
Speaker 4 (20:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (20:29):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
What's one thing that you want everyone to remember when
it comes to.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
Megan, I think is her kindness and concern and forethought
for others, even though she was going through such a
tremendous battle, finding cancer, becoming a full time wheelchair user,
figuring out how to navigate life in her body that
(20:53):
was ever changing. When she passed, one of the things
that we heard was stories from people from her friends,
but people also that we weren't that close to how
her kindness helped them as they were negotiating high school
or as they had some sort of event in their life,
that she was always there for them. And her last
act that she did when we were setting up her
(21:16):
hospice getting ready to go home for end of life care,
she asked to donate and did donate her brain and
spinal cord to research because she wanted to do whatever
she could to continue to fight even when she wasn't
here and to help children that are battling. Unfortunately, we'll
have to battle even when she was gone.
Speaker 5 (21:39):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
Oh EJ. Karen, I appreciate you both coming on to
tell us the story you know of your daughter Megan,
and for sharing this with our community as well. And
even though September has ended, you know we can still
make a difference through Luria's Children's Cancer Awareness campaign and
Luri's Children's is working to raise one million dollars for
kids with cancer, and the need continue is beyond you know,
(22:00):
just one month of course, So how can we the listeners,
the community best on Oor Megan's legacy and support families
who are also going through what you experienced.
Speaker 7 (22:09):
I think first and foremost would be to donate to
the campaign. There are research ideas and research sitting on
scientists desks that are unfunded right now and that might
be the cure for another family.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
So first and foremost, if.
Speaker 7 (22:26):
You can donate, if you have that in your means,
going to LORI Children's dot org slash cancer and making
that donation would be fantastic. Every dollar that they collect
is going towards.
Speaker 5 (22:39):
Helping save the children that are going to be impacted.
Speaker 7 (22:42):
The next if donation is not within something that you
can do raising awareness of a pediatric cancer and the
need for research and just supporting families in other ways
through your time through donation, but through raising awareness across
our great city is going to help all of these children.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
That's going to help Urry Children's give better treatments for
our kids.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Absolutely, So, EJ and Karen thank you this morning, family
for being here with us today. We appreciate you very,
very much. Thank you for sharing the legacy of Megan
as well, and we are going to you know, continue
to keep fighting, keep funding, and I'm really certain that
somebody who needed to hear this today will hear this,
so thank you for doing that.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
Thank you so much, Paulina, Thank.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
You, thank you, and thank you for listening to the
Weekly Show here on iHeartRadio on ninety three nine light
FM one All three five Kids at Them and Rock
ninety five to five replaced this episode in all previous
episodes up on our free iHeartRadio app, you can search
for the Weekly Show and if you or someone you
know should be on the Weekly Show, please reach out
to me at Paulina at iHeartMedia dot com and I
(23:51):
will try my absolute best to try to get to
you on the Weekly Show. If you're somebody who's making
a difference right here in our city, in our suburbs.
Thank you again so much. Please search for this episode
and all previous episodes on our free iHeartRadio app by
simply searching for the Weekly Show, and we'll talk to
you again next weekend. Be safe, Chicago,
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