Eric Topol on the Creative Destruction of Medicine

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4.7 • 4.4K Ratings

🗓️ 1 April 2013

⏱️ 64 minutes

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Summary

Eric Topol of the Scripps Research Institute and the author of The Creative Destruction of Medicine talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the ideas in his book. Topics discussed include "evidence-based" medicine, the influence of the pharmaceutical industry, how medicine is currently conducted for the "average" patient, the potential of genomics to improve health care and the power of technology, generally, to transform medicine.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Econ Talk, part of the Library of Economics and Liberty.
0:06.4	I'm your host Russ Roberts of Stanford University's Hoover Institution.
0:11.0	Our website is econtalk.org where you can subscribe, comment on this podcast, and find
0:16.0	links and other information related to today's conversation.
0:19.0	You'll also find our archives where you can listen to every episode we've ever done going
0:23.3	back to 2006.
0:25.4	Our email address is mailadykontalk.org, we'd love to hear from you.
0:32.8	Today is March 20th, 2013, and my guest is Eric Topol, cardiologist, geneticist, professor
0:39.1	at the Scripps Research Institute, and author of, The Creative Destruction of Medicine,
0:44.0	how the digital revolution will create better health care.
0:46.9	Eric, welcome to Econ Talk.
0:48.4	Thanks very much, Russ.
0:50.1	Now, your book is about the digital revolution and how it's transforming medicine a little
0:54.8	bit so far and a lot more perhaps to come.
0:57.6	I want to start with an example you give of how much of medicine today, particularly clinical
1:02.3	trials and the efficacy of various drugs, looks at the average person rather than the individual.
1:09.0	So what do you mean by that?
1:10.4	How is it changing now and how might it ultimately change down the road?
1:14.4	Well, unfortunately, because we didn't have the tools until now to define each individual,
1:21.7	the default mode has been treat everybody the same.
1:25.7	Have everybody come in for a stream, whether it's a mammogram for women or a PSA for men
1:31.2	and have everybody come for an annual physical exam and also get the same drug to all patients
	...

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