“Do not bring a live snake to the emergency room” is advice you never expect to hear. Our healthcare hero, Dr Mike, medical toxicologist and emergency room physician breaks down how poisoning, overdoses, and antidotes work in the real world. 🔴 Dr Ben and Friends

Comedian and true crime enthusiast Paula Kosienski keeps the laughs coming as we move from antifreeze and snake bites to myths, drug testing, and how to avoid accidental medication mistakes. Dr. Mike, also an addiction medicine specialist, helps us understand some bizarre situations we hopefully never experience!

We get into how toxicology requires detective work: what clinicians can test quickly, what they can’t, and how patterns like metabolic acidosis and osmolar gaps guide treatment before confirmatory levels come back. Dr. Mike explains antifreeze poisoning in plain language, why acetaminophen is still one of the most common overdoses, and what “supportive care” means when there is no magic antidote. We also talk decontamination tools you’ve heard of but probably never understood, including activated charcoal and whole bowel irrigation. Sounds like fun, right?

Then we zoom out to real-world hazards: snake bites (no, you should not suck venom out, and please don’t bring a live snake to the ER), black widow realities, and social media challenges like Tide Pods and nutmeg that can do serious harm. We also cover drug testing and false positives, including how medications like Wellbutrin can confuse standard urine screens and why a careful med history matters.

If you like smart medical storytelling with clean comedy and actionable safety tips, hit subscribe, share this with a friend who loves true crime myths, and leave us a review so more people can find the show. What poison or overdose myth do you want us to tackle next?

THANKS TO OUR GUESTS:

Dr Mike: emergency room physician, medical toxicologist, addiction medicine specialist

YT/IG/TT: @toxdocx

Paula Kosienski: comedian

IG/TT/YT @paulacomedy

FB: Paula Kosienski

https://nateland.com/pages/paula-kosienski

Subscribe wherever you listen, share this with a friend and leave a review so more people can find honest conversations about healthcare and a little comedy along the way.

This episode was produced by Angie Debelak with post-production editing by Ben Hill Sound.

Thanks for listening to Dr Ben and Friends. Laughter is the best medicine...unless you're treating bowel or bladder incontinence. See you next time!

Team Dr Ben

Share a message with Dr Ben and Friends!

Support the show

Follow and listen for free on Dr Ben and Friends website, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio!

Fan of the show? Record yourself! on Dr Ben's website and YOU could be featured on the next episode!

DISCLAIMER: Dr Ben and Friends Podcast

Quick heads-up folks: Dr Ben and Friends is your weekly dose of laughs and stories. We celebrate healthcare heroes and pro comics.

This is infotainment-- think popcorn, not prescriptions or medical advice.

If you're feeling funky, see your medical professional. Your health? That's on you. We'll stick to the punchlines.

A “whirly bird” in an operating room sounds like a joke, until you hear what it actually does to pull bone back into alignment. We kick off a fast, playful game where orthopedic traumatologist Dr. Kate shares real surgical instrument names and comedian Seth Hayes tries to pronounce them and guess their meaning, then we unpack the real-world trauma surgery behind the punchlines.

Along the way, we translate orthopedic jargon into clear visuals: minimally invasive plate fixation of the tibia, why a flexible Gigli saw exists, and how a femoral distractor uses pins and a threaded rod to apply serious, controlled force when dealing with complex fractures like tibial plateau injuries and acetabulum fractures in the hip joint. We also get into the surprisingly deep world of “just scissors” and “just forceps,” including why Debakey forceps pair with electrocautery to clamp and cauterize bleeding vessels when you’re working in tight, deep surgical spaces.

Then we go big on one of the most important advances in fracture care: the intramedullary nail. Dr. Kate explains what it is, the memorable history behind early nail designs, and why modern intramedullary fixation can replace weeks of traction with stability that helps patients get up and walk sooner. We finish with a practical, step-by-step overview of how a nail goes inside a bone through small incisions using a starting wire, guide wire, reaming, mallet seating, and interlocking bolts.

If you like medicine that’s accurate, funny, and easy to picture, subscribe, share this with a friend who loves health and comedy, and leave a review. Which tool name fooled you most?

THANKS TO OUR GUESTS:

Dr Kate: orthopaedic trauma surgeon, hockey player

Seth Kays: filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian, podcast host

IG @sethkaysofficial @manmademediaco @moviewarspodcast

TT @moviewarspodcast X @MovieWarsPod FB TheMovieWarsPodcast YT @moviewarspodcast www.moviewarspodcast.com https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/movie-wars/id1560698102

Subscribe wherever you listen, share this with a friend and leave a review so more people can find honest conversations about healthcare and a little comedy along the way.

This episode was produced by Angie Debelak with post-production editing by Ben Hill Sound.

Thanks for listening to Dr Ben and Friends. Laughter is the best medicine...unless you're treating bowel or bladder incontinence. See you next time!

Team Dr Ben

Share a message with Dr Ben and Friends!

Support the show

Follow and listen for free on Dr Ben and Friends website, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio!

Fan of the show? Record yourself! on Dr Ben's website and YOU could be featured on the next episode!

DISCLAIMER: Dr Ben and Friends Podcast

Quick heads-up folks: Dr Ben and Friends is your weekly dose of laughs and stories. We celebrate healthcare heroes and pro comics.

This is infotainment-- think popcorn, not prescriptions or medical advice.

If you're feeling funky, see your medical professional. Your health? That's on you. We'll stick to the punchlines.

A medical headline about laughter curing an autoimmune spine disease sounds like the kind of internet nonsense we’re trained to ignore and that’s exactly why we put it on the whiteboard. We kick off with “Headline or Hoax,” make our guesses, and then unpack the real story behind Norman Cousins, ankylosing spondylitis, and the surprisingly practical question hiding underneath the punchline: what does laughter actually do to pain, stress, and sleep, and where does it belong alongside real medical care?

From there, we fact-check a too-good-to-be-true claim about eating chocolate before bed and “boosting IQ,” using it as a springboard into what research does suggest about dark chocolate, cocoa flavanols, and cardiovascular health. We also talk honestly about the difference between a compelling anecdote and evidence-based medicine, why older publishing norms look strange today, and how to hold hope and skepticism at the same time without sliding into cynical dismissal.

Comedian Seth Kays becomes a surgeon on the Dr Ben and Friends podcast! We head into the operating room for a surprisingly fun breakdown of surgical safety. We talk through the purpose of caps, gowns, masks, double gloves, and why orthopedic surgery adds its own hazards, including blood exposure and fluoroscopy radiation. You’ll also learn why lead aprons and thyroid shields matter, what radiation glasses are for, and how a pre-op timeout helps prevent wrong-site surgery by forcing the whole team to pause and confirm the plan.

If you like smart medicine with real laughs, subscribe, share this with a friend who loves weird health headlines, and leave us a review with your take: which “Headline or Hoax” would you have picked?

THANKS TO OUR GUESTS:

Dr Kate: orthopaedic trauma surgeon, hockey player

Seth Kays: filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian, podcast host

IG @sethkaysofficial @manmademediaco @moviewarspodcast

TT @moviewarspodcast X @MovieWarsPod FB TheMovieWarsPodcast YT @moviewarspodcast www.moviewarspodcast.com https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/movie-wars/id1560698102

Subscribe wherever you listen, share this with a friend and leave a review so more people can find honest conversations about healthcare and a little comedy along the way.

This episode was produced by Angie Debelak with post-production editing by Ben Hill Sound.

Thanks for listening to Dr Ben and Friends. Laughter is the best medicine...unless you're treating bowel or bladder incontinence. See you next time!

Team Dr Ben

Share a message with Dr Ben and Friends!

Support the show

Follow and listen for free on Dr Ben and Friends website, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio!

Fan of the show? Record yourself! on Dr Ben's website and YOU could be featured on the next episode!

DISCLAIMER: Dr Ben and Friends Podcast

Quick heads-up folks: Dr Ben and Friends is your weekly dose of laughs and stories. We celebrate healthcare heroes and pro comics.

This is infotainment-- think popcorn, not prescriptions or medical advice.

If you're feeling funky, see your medical professional. Your health? That's on you. We'll stick to the punchlines.