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Doctoring the Truth

Doctoring the Truth

Written by: Jenne Tunnell and Amanda House
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Welcome to Doctoring the Truth, a podcast where two dedicated audiologists dissect the world of healthcare gone rogue. Explore jaw-dropping stories of medical malfeasance, nefariousness, and shocking breaches of trust. The episodes provide deep dives that latch onto your curiosity and conscience. It's a podcast for truth-seekers craving true crime, clinical insights, and a dash of humor.

© 2026 Doctoring the Truth Hygiene & Healthy Living Physical Illness & Disease True Crime
Episodes
  • Ep 82-Mesmer's Magic Tub, Mozart's Armonica Envy, and Ben Franklin's Dinner Disaster: Old Timey Medicine at it's Fanciest

    Ep 82-Mesmer's Magic Tub, Mozart's Armonica Envy, and Ben Franklin's Dinner Disaster: Old Timey Medicine at it's Fanciest
    Sep 25 2026
    Send us Fan MailA doctor in a lilac silk robe, a wooden tub packed with iron rods, patients linked together in a room with music, and “healing crises” that look like fainting spells. That sounds like theatre, until you realise how many smart, suffering people in the late 1700s desperately wanted relief and how convincing a carefully staged medical experience can feel.We trace the real history behind Franz Anton Mesmer, from his formal medical training in Vienna to the moment magnets and a single patient case turn into a sweeping theory of “animal magnetism.” From there, the story explodes in Paris: the baquet (the famous tub) makes group treatment possible, the rituals scale, and mesmerism becomes both a health trend and a business with followers, fees, and secrecy. Along the way, we talk about why a treatment can seem effective even when its proposed mechanism is wrong, and why attention, touch, imitation, and expectation matter in any healing setting.If you like medical history, skepticism, hypnosis history, and stories where belief collides with experimentation, you’ll love this one. Subscribe or follow, share it with a friend who loves a good debunk, and leave a review telling us what convinces you most when a health claim feels “real.”Resources:https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/78413/pg78413-images.htmlhttps://exhibits.stanford.edu/super-e/feature/franz-anton-mesmer-1734-1815https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/mesmerized/https://www.jameslindlibrary.org/articles/mesmers-1780-proposal-for-a-controlled-trial-to-test-his-method-of-treatment-using-animal-magnetism/https://www.jameslindlibrary.org/articles/antoine-de-lavoisiers-role-in-designing-a-single-blind-trial-to-assess-whether-animal-magnetism-exists/https://momh.org.uk/exhibitions/maria-theresia-von-paradis-1759-1824/https://fi.edu/en/science-and-education/collection/benjamin-franklins-glass-armonicahttps://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/139667https://www.bmj.com/content/336/7651/999https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3154208/https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0015591https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/placebo-effecthttps://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/hypnosishttps://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_id=1839&pid=3https://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?img_step=2&item_id=1839&mode=transcript Support the showDon't miss a (heart) beat! Check out our Instagram @doctoringthetruthpodcast and email us your Medical Mishaps at doctoringthetruth@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at Doctoring the Truth, and TikTok @doctoring the truth. Don't forget to download, rate, and review so we can keep bringing you more exciting content each week!Stay safe, and stay suspicious...trust, after all, is a delicate thing!Don't forget to check out these fantastic discounts using promo code STAYSUSPICIOUS from our sponsors at:*thecuminclub.com for 30% off*https://strongcoffeecompany.com/discount/STAYSUSPICIOUS for 20% off*www.handful.com for 30% off *www.standshoes.com for 15% off*www.getcheeky.com for 30% off*https://mollybz.com for 10% off *klearprotein.com for 20% off*www.torrain.org for 15% off*www.cozyearth.com for 21% off* www.yarokhair.com for 15% off *www.loveindus.com for 21% off https://www.tumbleweedandoak.com for 15% offwww.aspiredrinks.com 20% OFF ...
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Ep 81-When Prescriptions Become A Weapon: Dr. Craig A. Spiegel

    Ep 81-When Prescriptions Become A Weapon: Dr. Craig A. Spiegel
    Sep 18 2026

    Send us Fan Mail

    A tire pressure alert leads to a nail in the tread, and a split second label check stops an anaphylaxis scare and then the tone shifts hard. We’re talking about the kind of betrayal that makes your stomach drop: a pediatrician accused of using the prescription pad as payment, trading controlled substances for sex acts, nude photos, and cash. The allegations span years, and the case ends with a guilty plea and a 20 year federal prison sentence.

    If you care about medical ethics, patient safety, controlled substance prescribing, and the real world gaps that let harm hide in plain sight, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who cares about healthcare accountability, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

    Resources:

    Justice.gov

    Justice.gov 2

    https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2024/03/14/st-louis-area-pediatrician-indicted-accused-exchanging-prescriptions-for

    healing gel



    Support the show

    Don't miss a (heart) beat! Check out our Instagram @doctoringthetruthpodcast and email us your Medical Mishaps at doctoringthetruth@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at Doctoring the Truth, and TikTok @doctoring the truth. Don't forget to download, rate, and review so we can keep bringing you more exciting content each week!

    Stay safe, and stay suspicious...trust, after all, is a delicate thing!

    Don't forget to check out these fantastic discounts using promo code STAYSUSPICIOUS from our sponsors at:

    *thecuminclub.com for 30% off

    *https://strongcoffeecompany.com/discount/STAYSUSPICIOUS for 20% off

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    *www.loveindus.com for 21% off

    https://www.tumbleweedandoak.com for 15% off

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    ...
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Ep 80-What Little We Know About Post Partum Psychosis: Otty Sanchez and Lindsay Clancy (Part 3)

    Ep 80-What Little We Know About Post Partum Psychosis: Otty Sanchez and Lindsay Clancy (Part 3)
    Sep 11 2026
    Send us Fan MailA mother can be terrified, begging for help, and still be sent home. A mother can look organised on a video visit and still be collapsing behind the scenes. This week we close our postpartum psychosis series with two cases that force the hardest questions in maternal mental health, forensic psychiatry, and criminal responsibility.Trigger warning: child deaths, suicide, severe mental illness, psychosis, and a brief mention of cannibalism. If this series helped you think differently about postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis, warning signs, and emergency care, please subscribe, share the episode, and leave us a review so more people can find it.Resources Associated Press trial overview, Associated Press closing-argument coverage, Massachusetts criminal-responsibility instruction, and Plymouth County District Attorney case release.Mom Who Mutilated Newborn Enters Plea — San Antonio Express-NewsDocuments Released in Case of Mother Who Killed Her Son — KHOU911 Call Reveals Horror Over Baby’s Mutilation — Houston ChronicleMistrial Declared After Jury Deadlocks — Associated PressKey Moments in the Lindsay Clancy Case — Associated PressA Look at the Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial — Associated PressWhat Happens After the Lindsay Clancy Mistrial? — CBS NewsTestimony from Psychiatrists Who Treated Clancy — CBS BostonClancy’s Psychiatric Care Before the Children’s Deaths — CBS BostonMassachusetts Model Jury Instructions: Criminal ResponsibilityCommonwealth v. Lindsay Clancy — Plymouth County District AttorneyHelp Advance the ResearchMGH Postpartum Psychosis ProjectMGH Center for Women’s Mental HealthPostpartum Support International: Current ResearchAction on Postpartum Psychosis: Research ParticipationNIMH Women’s Reproductive Mental-Health StudiesClinicalTrials.gov: Postpartum-Psychosis StudiesSociety for Women’s Health ResearchResearch opportunities and eligibility requirements change over time. Participation is voluntary, and listeners should review each study’s consent, privacy, and institutional-review information before enrolling. Support the showDon't miss a (heart) beat! Check out our Instagram @doctoringthetruthpodcast and email us your Medical Mishaps at doctoringthetruth@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at Doctoring the Truth, and TikTok @doctoring the truth. Don't forget to download, rate, and review so we can keep bringing you more exciting content each week!Stay safe, and stay suspicious...trust, after all, is a delicate thing!Don't forget to check out these fantastic discounts using promo code STAYSUSPICIOUS from our sponsors at:*thecuminclub.com for 30% off*https://strongcoffeecompany.com/discount/STAYSUSPICIOUS for 20% off*www.handful.com for 30% off *www.standshoes.com for 15% off*www.getcheeky.com for 30% off*https://mollybz.com for 10% off *klearprotein.com for 20% off*www.torrain.org for 15% off*www.cozyearth.com for 21% off* www.yarokhair.com for 15% off *www.loveindus.com for 21% off https://www.tumbleweedandoak.com for 15% offwww.aspiredrinks.com 20% OFF ...
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    1 hr and 12 mins
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