I’m a PRACTICING board-certified neurosurgeon with a dedicated health and wellness practice, and I’ve been in this space for a decades. I want to offer a perspective you won’t often hear from the influencer ecosystem.
The internet has done real damage to the practice of medicine. There’s an entire industry built around health content — podcasts, substacks, supplement lines — populated by people who have never examined a patient, written a prescription, or sat with someone at the end of their life. Some are physicians who have traded clinical rigor for revenue. Others aren’t physicians at all. What they share is a business model that depends on your continued engagement and purchasing, not your outcomes.
Peptides are a good example. Most have limited efficacy data, and several carry mechanisms of action that should give thoughtful clinicians pause. Structurally, peptides are amino acid chains — the same basic chemistry as the misfolded proteins responsible for prion diseases like CJD. I’ve cared for patients with that disease. They die within weeks. In that context, I’ll just say this: be careful what you put into your body based on the advice of someone whose income depends on your doing so (and by proxy, even your viewership).
There are excellent, experienced physicians out there — people who stay current, think critically, and don’t have a supplement line. Seek them out before changing your protocols. And BTW, Attia is NOT one of them. Were it not for Tim Ferris and Oprah, he would be a destitute flunky. And there are many more like him…
One of the main postulates of quantum physics says that information is never lost. None. It means that all our dirty jokes, dubious acquaintances and stupid comments have been recorded. Bits of this information is scrambled and not accessible to us, but imagine that it was. Imagine that this global database has been released just as
Epstein files. Would all of us, Peter’s critics, look clean?
You may argue that PA is a social media influencer and we’re not. Maybe not. At least at his scale. But aren’t we influencing people in our proximity? Our children, family, friends, colleagues, teammates? The size of scale is not an excuse. Besides, he has never pretended to be a moral authority.
Ask yourself how much were you really harmed by his bad personal decisions? And how much did you benefit from the insights of Peter and his guests? Are you ready to erase it along with Peter?
I am not.
"“In the armory of thought man forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace…between these two extremes are all grades of character, and man is the maker and master…and shaper of condition, environment and destiny…All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts.”
~ From James Allen, As a Man Thinketh.
I agree that association with a person convicted with what Epstein has been convicted at the time of correspondence is not the same as spreading dumb jokes around. It’s another league. But… just curious, how many people knew that PA is communicating with Epstein? It’s not a spy thriller, some of those with whom he was fairly close, and who is actively erasing him now, must have been aware. Also, it’s not possible to undo good things that he has done to many of us. Here is the hard one: would you deny the help of a good doctor if you knew about him what you knew about PA, and if your health was at stake? Say, oncologist.
Yes and a hint of the prevalent anti-science crowd who freely exploit the work of scientists (up to and including the mere fact that they are alive to decry science) using the latest scientific advancements and derivatives thereof.
As a younger man, I found it easier to find footing on moral high ground. Today, nearsightedness has revealed that I have little such purchase. I do not respect what Attia did in the past nor do I respect his less than full throated repudiation of it, but I have only my hope that I would have done better in the same situation and, frankly, I doubt that I would have.
I don’t suppose I had in mind all of the accusations leveled at Attia when I made my comment. I was focused on his failing to disassociate with JE at the point that he likely knew better, as evidenced in at least one of his emails. None of us can understand the nuanced issues in the development of the relationship. We do know that after the fact logical reconstructions are, like memories, partially reconstructed and virtually always inaccurate to some degree. I allow that our full understanding of the nuance might change our views, at least slightly.
I tend to agree about Peter. Most people can’t relate to how things work among the extremely wealthy party set. Look up the Jimmy Saville scandal for another example. There are several more Epstein and Saville types out there whose names we don’t know. Meanwhile, Matt Karberlein has stepped up with an excellent podcast on brain health. I hope Peter comes back with good guests again because he excels as an interviewer.
If my life depended on it and the best oncologist happened to be a mass murderer, I’d still choose him every day and twice on Sundays.
That said, respectfully, I don’t think those two things are really connected.
I’m not trying to compare PA to an actual criminal, but I don’t think that talent, money, nor the good someone has done should affect whether or not they’re held accountable.
I haven’t seen anyone suggest people undo the good they’ve received from PA. I’m still on rapa and I’ll continue to check my ApoB, just as Pulp Fiction will remain my favorite movie, all while hoping Weinstein remains in jail.
My personal goal is to never give the rich and famous any more leeway than I’d give a janitor. In fact, I’d rather reserve my sympathy for a janitor who actually shows contrition.
Certainly poor judgement on Peter’s point, not sure that reduces his expertise or his guests. Although there is no evidence that he did anything illegal. If we are going to place guilt by association with Epstein, the we need to be consistent. Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Steve Bannon, Ehud Barak, Sergey Brin, Deepak Chopra, David Copperfield, Stephen Hawking to name a few.
Following some peoples logic on this post about PA being medically discredited due to a link with Epstein, I guess nobody should listen to Bill Gates about any health or vaccine related opinions. Hell, Gates has 0 medical or health education and many think he walks on water on vaccines and virius’s. (some in Africa might have a different opinion).
I listened to his previous podcast on metabolic clocks while hiking the other day. It was a little strange to hear him carry the whole show sans guests but he pulled it off with precision and a without the off-point rambling common to other gero podcasters.
While I was familiar with perhaps 80% of the content, I admired his precision and concision. Anyone who doubts his understanding or his teaching skills is not paying attention.