Intention to Treat

What happens when medicine gets race wrong? In a new 8-week series, The Race Equation confronts harmful assumptions about race in clinical medicine, why they endure, and what it will take to change. ​
​Follow “Intention to Treat” on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. 

New research using functional brain imaging reveals that many patients considered to be in a coma or vegetative state and who are unresponsive may actually be conscious and aware.
A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2408662.

The millions of people worldwide who are suffering from a vast array of disabling symptoms long after being infected with SARS-CoV-2 may eventually benefit from a new consensus definition of long Covid.
A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2407614.

In recent years, substantial progress has been made in developing brain-computer interfaces that could restore the ability of patients with neurodegenerative diseases and other conditions to communicate.
A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2407613.

As race-based diagnostic tools, such as pulse oximeters that function poorly on darker skin, continue to lead to inequitable care, a growing movement is working to weed them out of U.S. health care.
A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2407611.

A key measure of kidney function and a risk calculator for vaginal birth after cesarean delivery are among the many tools that have long contributed to health and health care inequities for Black patients.
A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2405797.

Claims that Black people had lower lung capacity than White people led to race-adjusted spirometry and poorer care for Black patients with lung disease. New equations are starting to change that.
A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2405796.

A new strain of H5N1 influenza is spreading in dairy cows in the United States. Will it cause an epidemic in humans? And what does our public health system need to do in order to be ready if it does?
A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2405795.

In the face of a growing childhood obesity epidemic, some parents and clinicians are turning to new tools such as GLP-1 receptor agonists. This episode explores the implications of that trend.
A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2400703.

This episode considers a new treatment for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the world’s most common inherited heart condition, which most affected people don’t even realize they have.
A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2400702.