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The State of Health is the podcast where patients put healthcare decision makers, thought leaders, and policy makers in the hot seat.Hosted by Gunnar Esiason, a patient advocate living with cystic fibrosis, The State of Health gives listeners a front row seat to patient advocacy. Gunnar's three decades of surviving inside the American healthcare system has given him a front row seat to the complexities that make health care delivery so challenging. The State of Health will unravel these comp ...
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Today on the show we take a look at the shadow world where pharmacy benefit managers or PBM’s operate to influence drug prices. Joining us is Antonio Ciaccia, the CEO of 46Brooklyn Research, an Ohio non-profit corporation whose purpose is to improve the accessibility and usability of U.S. drug pricing data. PBMs are a meaningful part of the US drug…
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Kevin Outterson, the Executive Director of Boston-based CARB-X, a global non-profit partnership dedicated to accelerating antibacterial research to tackle the global rising threat of drug-resistant bacteria, joins the podcast to talk with Gunnar about the early-stage landscape for biotechnology companies developing novel antibiotics. Unlike the AMR…
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The antibiotic resistance series on the State of Health has discussed, at length, the policy and market dysfunctions at the heart of the antibiotic crisis. This week, Gunnar talks with Dr. Ben Chan, an Associate Research Scientist in the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University, and Ella Balasa, a cystic fibrosis patient ad…
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Senator Michael Bennet, a co-sponsor of the bipartisan PASTEUR Act, joins Gunnar on the State of Health to talk about his proposed legislation to correct the dysfunctional antibiotic market. Senator Bennet makes his pitch for why he believes people should care about antibiotic resistance, talks about how the PASTEUR Act can become law, and shares h…
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The State of Health continues the Antibiotic Resistance series with an episode featuring Henry Skinner, the CEO of the AMR Action Fund, a novel kind of investment fund that aims to catalyze the innovation ecosystem for novel antibiotics. Gunnar and Henry talk about the challenges of bringing new antibiotics to market, the difference between the AMR…
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Senator Todd Young from Indiana joins the podcast to talk about the PASTEUR Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation that he is co-sponsoring with Senator Michael Bennet that aims to reform the way novel antibiotics are paid for in the United States. Unlike most prescription drugs, antibiotics are unique in that they lose their efficacy over time tha…
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The State of Health is back after a brief summer vacation. This week, Emma D'Agostino, PhD joins the show to talk with Gunnar about their jointly written opinion piece that appeared in The Hill in mid-August entitled: New bipartisan legislation can encourage needed antibiotic development, where they called for bipartisan reform of the antibiotic ma…
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Episode 15: Immunocompromised Transplant Patients Return to Vaccine Clinics for Booster Shots
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Katy Monte, an immunocompromised woman who has received three transplants as a result of her end-stage cystic fibrosis, talks to Gunnar about getting a third COVID-19 vaccine after the FDA recommended booster shots for people who may not have developed antibodies after the initial doses. She explains the conversations she had with her care teams, h…
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Seth Rotberg joins the podcast to talk through the in's and out's of patient advocacy, the patient's role in drug development, and how patients can work with regulators to make sure the best possible medications reach approval. Since Gunnar considers himself a patient advocate, too, they are able to talk about their frustrations with the role, but …
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In the end of summer 2020, Gunnar sat down to talk with then Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox about the policymaker's connection with cystic fibrosis and the state's evolving response to COVID-19. Gunnar also solicits a question from a Utahan living with cystic fibrosis for the then Lieutenant Governor to answer. Gunnar talks about the need for soci…
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Dr. Bill Smith, a visiting fellow in the life sciences at the Boston-based think tank, Pioneer Institute, and former drug industry veteran, joins the State of Health to talk about the evolving market dynamics in the drug industry starting with the Orphan Drug Act and the industry's rush into therapeutic development for rare diseases. In this episod…
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In this Three Questions episode where the role of the interviewer flips halfway through the show, Gunnar and Alaska Governor, Mike Dunleavy, talk about Alaska's early success with the state's vaccination campaign, the state's integrated health system and how Alaska's reliance on telehealth could be a playbook for other states as they look to normal…
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Chris MacLeod is a Canadian living with cystic fibrosis and practicing attorney, who has been a fierce advocate for patients who need access to life-sustaining medications or treatments. He founded the not-for-profit organization Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Treatment Society to assist in carrying out this work. He also recently released a book entitle…
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Episode 9: Turning Hope into Action with Dr. David Fajgenbaum and the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network
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Dr. David Fajgenbaum joins Gunnar on the podcast to talk about his New York Times Bestselling book, "Chasing My Cure: A Doctor’s Race to Turn Hope Into Action" and his journey from division 1 college football quarterback and medical student to a rare disease patient up against the clock to find a treatment for his suddenly diagnosed Castleman Disea…
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Episode 8: Drug Pricing, Valuing Innovation and No Patient Left Behind with Peter Kolchinsky
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Biotechnology investor, Peter Kolchinsky, joins the State of Health to talk with Gunnar about drug pricing. The conversation covers the long term view that when drugs go generic without undue delay, the value they provide to society is far greater than the short-run value that cost effectiveness analyses often show, which Peter details in his book,…
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Liz Salmi, a self-described "former punk rock drummer turned cancer patient, and now senior research strategist," joins the show to paint a successful case study of joint-patient, physician, and researcher advocacy. She tells the story about the data-driven and evidence-based case for "open progress notes" and the impact they can have on patient ca…
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Patient engagement is more than a buzzword for career and lifelong patients. The lived experience of chronic disease holds tangible value that is often exploited under the guise of altruism. What if patients could capture some of the value generated by the healthcare delivery system and industry? The State of Health welcomes one entrepreneur who is…
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Gunnar Esiason and Bob Coughlin, the former CEO of MassBio, talk about the state of the biotechnology industry in the background of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bob shares why the biotechnology trade association is important for biotech companies in Massachusetts, before getting into the industry's reputation and how he thinks the pandemic will impact th…
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Carmela Coyle, the President and CEO of the California Hospital Association joins Gunnar to talk about the state of hospitals in California. In this deep dive interview, Gunnar wants to how how the hospitals of tomorrow will be shaped by today's pandemic and if the hospital industry sees telehealth as a competitor in care delivery. Gunnar challenge…
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Governor Mike Parson from Missouri joined Gunnar Esiason for a three questions chat where they talked health policy and rare diseases in Missouri. Gunnar shares a personal connection to St. Louis University School of Medicine, and then asks the Governor how the state is managing care for people with rare and complex diseases while hospitals stress …
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Lindsey Leininger, the nerdy-Girl-in-Chief, at Dear Pandemic, a website where bona fide nerdy girls post real info on COVID-19, joins the show to talk about the state of the pandemic, lessons learned, how data should be used to inform public policy and how she fights back against misinformation. She is a public health scientist who teaches and writ…
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Gunnar and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy do a three questions style interview where the role of the interviewer flips halfway through the show. Governor Murphy talks about the state of the healthcare industry in New Jersey, how the COVID-19 pandemic will reshape health policy choices in the state, and why the pandemic's shift to remote work could…
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Welcome to the State of Health, patients put healthcare decision makers and thought leaders in the hot seat. Join Gunnar Esiason, a cystic fibrosis patient advocate and rare disease patient leader, as he rolls back the curtain on the healthcare system through conversations with political leaders, industry decision makers, thought leaders and, of co…
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