Everything Doctor's & Hospitals are Afraid to Tell You: FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary on How to Negotiate Your Medical Bills, Advocate For Yourself & Restore U.S. Healthcare

The James Altucher Show

James Altucher

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4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 6 May 2025

⏱️ 95 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A Note from James:

Marty Makary is the new head of the FDA, but he is also an old friend of the podcast. He's been on several times, and it's really important to know how this is going to be a new and different FDA, and it's going to be molded by Marty's very specific opinions about healthcare and the medical industry—and here they are.

Episode Description:

In this episode, James reconnects with Dr. Marty Makary, now heading the FDA, to discuss what’s broken in the American healthcare system—and what can actually be done about it. Marty pulls back the curtain on the realities of medical pricing, why unnecessary surgeries happen more often than most suspect, and how medical education is failing future doctors and patients alike. They explore the origins of Marty’s bestselling books, the TV adaptation of Unaccountable, and why your hospital bill may have little to do with actual care. This conversation is a rare window into what’s really happening inside hospitals and policy rooms—and what the future of smarter, more humane healthcare could look like.

What You’ll Learn:

Why 11% of surgeries and 21% of all medical care may be unnecessary—and what’s driving that trend.
How hidden costs, out-of-network billing, and surprise charges are crippling Americans financially.
What reforms are gaining traction in Congress and why hospitals may be resisting them.
How nutrition, inflammation, and simple wellness practices are overlooked in modern medicine.
What questions you should ask your doctor to avoid inappropriate or excessive care.

Timestamped Chapters:

[00:00] Introduction to Marty Makary and the New FDA
[01:17] From Book to TV Show: The Journey of Unaccountable
[03:42] The Price We Pay: Unveiling Healthcare Costs
[09:06] Medical Education and Its Flaws
[15:01] The Hidden Costs of Healthcare
[34:52] Inappropriate Care and Its Consequences
[43:14] The Referral Business in Medicine
[44:00] Unnecessary Surgeries: A National Concern
[44:48] Malpractice Fears and Their Impact
[47:33] The Overuse of Antibiotics
[50:28] Inappropriate Medical Care: Real-Life Examples
[53:45] The Role of Nutrition and Wellness in Healthcare
[58:15] Innovative Medical Education and Training
[01:00:36] The Importance of Experience in Medical Practice
[01:18:32] The Future of Healthcare: Inflammation and Biome Health
[01:20:53] Final Thoughts and Practical Health Tips

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Marty McCarrie is the new head of the FDA, but he's also an old friend of the podcast.
0:11.1	He's been on several times.
0:12.9	And it's really important to know how is this going to be a new and different FDA?
0:19.1	And it's going to be molded by Marty's very specific opinions about health care and the medical industry.
0:24.9	And here they are.
0:28.6	This isn't your average business podcast, and he's not your average host.
0:33.3	This is the James Altiger show.
0:45.4	Okay, ready?
0:51.1	This is going to be an excellent episode.
0:56.8	Pay close attention because we're going to learn everything that hospitals and doctors are afraid to tell you and what you can do about it. And we're also going to explore
1:02.8	how the entire healthcare system can be improved. I got with me today, Dr. Marty McCarrie.
1:15.0	He's surgeon, professor of health policy at Johns Hopkins. It's the author of the book Unaccountable. And the subtitle is What Hospitals
1:20.6	Won't Tell You and How Transparency Can Revolutionalize Healthcare? And then he's also, most
1:25.0	recently, coming out in September, author of the book, The Price We Pay,
1:29.7	What Broke American Healthcare and How to Fix It?
1:32.6	And I also should mention this book Unaccountable became a TV show, The Resident.
1:37.1	So before we talk about anything, just like how does that happen?
1:39.9	Did like, I don't know, Stephen Spielberg call you up and say, Marty, come to Hollywood.
1:45.7	Kind of, I got a call from Antoine Fuqua's production team and they said, hey, we want to make
1:51.6	this book, a TV show. Can you come out to L.A. with your agent? And I said, yeah, sure, of course.
1:57.6	I have no agent. So you're like, what, just by the way, when someone asks a question like that, who do they think you are?
2:06.2	Exactly.
	...

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