Would it surprise you to learn that people with too much money are flocking to "IV bars" and paying hundreds of dollars for intravenous cocktails of vitamins that are supposed to treat every malady under the sun but do absolutely nothing except risk serious infection?

... It probably doesn't surprise you, does it? Yeah, us neither. God, that's depressing. Anyway, here's a podcast.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, we celebrate a trip to Minnesota with an exploration of Viking's Disease. You'll meet the people it isn't really named for and the guy who beat out a long line of researchers to get it named after himself. It's a whole thing. You'll see.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

We bidets have been all the rage for years around the globe, they never really caught on in the U.S. What part of their seedy history kept them out of American homes? And what (if any) are their health benefits? We've got all that and more on the new Sawbones!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, the incredible true story of how Chicago changed the direction of a river to battle typhoid and cholera.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Just in time for Christmas, we've got another extremely special holiday film created by Justin and Sydnee McElroy. Gather the family and prepare for A Medicine Called Christmas 2: A Royal Pain.

NARRATOR: Rachel McElroy

PHIL: Griffin McElroy

TAB: Sydnee McElroy

JESUS: Dwight Slappe

SORIANO: Travis McElroy

CHRIS: Justin McElroy

WAITER: Michael Meadows

MR. BIG CITY: Tommy Smirl

BETH: Teylor Smirl

MANDY: Rileigh Smirl

QUEEN: Mary Smirl

SANTA: Clint McElroy

You may have seen a Facebook meme claiming that a combination of elderberry and Oscillococcinum can prevent the flu. The truth of the matter may surprise you! (unless you've ever in your life ever listened to even a single episode of our show)

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Listen, we're not gonna sit here all fancy and act like we didn't just record an entire episode about people sunning their buttholes. That's what happened, nothing can change that. If you don't listen, it was for nothing.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

We're marking our 300th episode (OK, it's our 301st) by answering all of your pressing medical questions. Can you really poke your brain through your nose? Where do boob crumbs come from? Listen for that and so much more!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on the 300th (!) episode of Sawbones, meet William Halstead, the father of American surgery, the man who inspired Cinemax's The Knick and ... a great advocate for cocaine.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

The market is flooded with at-home tests that let you "take medical care into your own hands" but is that something you even want in your hands? Are they reliable? Also, is Justin really going to give up cereal?

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

On Sawbones, we take pride in our ability to detangle medical myth from fact and give you the truth about the human body. This week on Sawbones ... things aren't so clear. You may need a stiff drink for this one ... unless your body is making them already?

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

William Goldman wrote in The Princess Bride "True love is the best thing in the world, except for cough drops." This week on Sawbones, we ruin them. We're really sorry, Bill.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Ben Franklin may not have have been a doctor, but he still had a massive impact on the medical field in his time. What were his contributions? And was he ever actually president? You'll have to listen to find out!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

We've all heard about the oath new doctors have to take before they get their first scalpel and weird head mirror thing. But has it always been the same? Did Hippocrates really make it up? Is "First, do no harm" part of it? We'll answer all that and more on this week's Sawbones.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin check in with National Hotel Disease, the diarrhea so bad it almost brought down a U.S. presidency.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, we talk about the many, many things essential oils can't do for you and the dueling Utah-based companies that insist we're wrong.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

For thousands of years, throughout an unprecedented number of cultures, garlic has been touted for its ability to improve our health. How? Well, by warding off vampires, silly. ... OK, there's some other stuff too. You should probably just listen.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

On Sawbones, we like to take a lot of hard lines and make grand proclamations: Vaccines good, viruses bad, that sort of thing. But when it comes to vaping, things get a little ... cloudier?

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Water: There's plenty of it, it's not obviously poisonous and it's cheap as all get out. Maybe THAT'S the answer to all our species' medical woes? ... It's not, but if you've ever listened to Sawbones before you see where this episode (recorded live in beautiful Atlanta) is going.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

A vaccine that can practically eliminate a type of human cancer should be cause for celebration across our species. Would it surprise it to learn that some people don't trust it? ... Probably not at this point, huh?

This week on Sawbones: The HPV vaccine.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Welcome to all the owners of human bodies! You're gonna love these things, they can run, jump ... and every once in a while they uncontrollably blast snot out of your face at 100 MPH. This week on Sawbones: Sneezing.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Any species could have created a bunch of bogus ways to treat fevers. But only humans could use fevers as a bogus treatment for other stuff and then end up being sort of right about it. This week on Sawbones, we're burning down the house.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

One of the nation's leading pharmaceutical companies once maintained one of the biggest marijuana farms in the country. This week on Sawbones, how Eli Lilly lost its taste for pot, and why it refuses to acknowledge its past.

Does medicated chap stick doing anything? What are doctors hiding? Why can't you keep your bones? This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin bring you answers to these questions and many more on a new Q&A episode!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, live from the historic Ryman Auditorium, hear the patent medicine company so insidious they made Dolly Parton sing about laxatives on one of the biggest stages in country music.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

You're well acquainted with all of humanity's history of medical mistakes, but even modern medicine changes it's mind from time to time. This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin explain what a medical reversal looks like!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

We all know that consuming wine has no downsides whatsoever, but did you know it also has some amazing health benefits as well?! It's true! (Depending on your definition of "benefits" ... and "health" and ... OK, and "amazing" too.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, we revisit a dismal period in American history that our government seems determined to repeat. Also you'll meet the heroic Japanese American doctors, nurses, dentists and other medical professionals that fought to save lives despite the fact that they themselves were prisoners.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

We all know it's probably smart not to eat raw pork, but this week on Sawbones, we'll meet the inspiring people brave enough to ask "Why?" (Note: We're publishing this week's episode a little early because we're headed out on tour!)

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This is the story of the military-funded vaccine that was, wasn't and then ($100 million later) was again.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Though we have it down to a (literal) science at this point, the history of determining parentage is chock-full of fake medicine. Two words: Impotence court.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones: A real-world miracle. Justin gets to talk about video games as Dr. Sydnee explores a in-game plague that brought World of Warcraft to its knees.

This week on Sawbones, we meet the first pharmacist in the U.S., visit the New Orleans museum that celebrates his legacy and hunt the ghosts that supposedly haunt it.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, an unnerving look into the upsettingly modern invention of ingesting bleach for medicinal uses. Content warning: This episode includes descriptions of "therapies" that are being used primarily on children and other vulnerable populations.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

We've joked a lot about how Dr. Sydnee doesn't know much about teeth, but this week we're explaining exactly why. It all goes back ... to The Historic Rebuff.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Sure, an episode about a common blood thinner may not sound particularly sexy. But we'd bet that once you hear the inspiring story of how moldy hay became a life saving medicine (with a detour as a rat poison) you may think differently.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Dr. Sydnee finally took a much belated trip to the dentists office and she and Justin are celebrating in the only way they know how: Digging through all the retched ways we've tried to fix teeth since the dawn of time.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

We recorded this episode of Sawbones live on the Joco Cruise 2019. (Book your cabin for 2020 now, they're filling up fast!) When confronted with the beauty of the ocean and cool island breezes, Dr. Sydnee's mind turns to the only rational place: Pinworms.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Often on Sawbones, we talk about pushers of false cures as if snake oil is a relic of a bygone era. This week on a special MaxFunDrive episode of Sawbones, a reminder that snake oil salespeople are just a present as ever.

DONATE NOW!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones to celebrate the Maximum Fun Drive we've got a special crossover episode with Shmanners! Let's talk about broken heart syndrome (which is exactly what we'll have if you don't donate!)

DONATE NOW!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Did you know that Alabama has been the home of some huge medical milestones? It's true! Join us as we share the inspirational, hilarious and terrifying medical legends of The Yellowhammer State.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Today, we're honoring the memory of Luke Perry who passed away this week after a stroke. We'll be talking about the history of strokes, but more importantly teach you how to help prevent them and how to spot them when they happen.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones we complete our three-part series on the MMR vaccine as we make you an honorary Rubella Fighter.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Everybody loves harnessing the power of reflexology, but what if you want all the great, totally real, not at all fabricated benefits of reflexology, but don't wanna touch people's feet? Friends, auriculotherapy is here for you. ... You're OK with touching ears, right?

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones we return to the MMR vaccine, specifically the "mumps" part. We'll also meet the brilliant mind behind the vaccine and the tragic reason he never gets the credit he's due.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Besides being a king of football and all around touchdown master, did you know Tom Brady endorses a training and nutrition regimen co-created by a guy who got in trouble with the FTC for selling fake cancer pills? Let's talk about TB12.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, we'll meet a San Francisco doctor that reimagined how we care for people with drug addiction and got a hit put out on himself in the process.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Imagine a world where Sawbones never existed, medical progress was halted and false wellness ran rampant. That's the horrifying world painted by a recent issue of The Times that Dr. Sydnee and Justin are going to guide you through this week.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

As shelves seem to be overtaken by "pH-balanced" beverages, alkaline water has moved from the fringes into the mainstream. This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin see if every human malady really can be fixed by low-pH water. (Spoiler: No.)

Gripe water and colic are a match made in Sawbones heaven: A cure-all and a catch all. This week, we'll explore the history of how a misunderstood diagnosis has helped keep a made-up medicine on the shelves.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Live from Candlenights 2018, we're so proud to present a staged reading of the new Hallmark Christmas movie written by Justin and Sydnee McElroy: A Medicine Called Christmas.

Music: Adam Sakiyama

CAST:

• Narrator: Rachel McElroy
• Daniel: Tommy Smirl
• Tabitha: Sydnee McElroy
• Phil: Griffin McElroy
• Chris: Justin McElroy
• Ms. Crimble: Teresa McElroy
• Mr. Frankson: Dwight Slappe
• Mr. Cameron: Travis McElroy
• Beth: Teylor Smirl
• Mandy: Rileigh Smirl
• Mr. Golfberg: Michael Meadows
• Santa: Clint McElroy

This week's episode of Sawbones is all about "Vitamin B17" which is, brace yourself ... not a vitamin. Yup, it's gonna be one of those sorts of episodes.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

When Dr. Sydnee and Justin find themselves in Colorado, an episode on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever seems a natural fit ... except it's not really that common in Colorado. But when the story of a disease is able to tie together cow-dipping terrorism and frozen food, how can they resist?

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This Thanksgiving, Dr. Sydnee and Justin invite you on their ambitious quest to use the biggest family meal of the year to destigmatize herpes. No more waiting for your problematic uncle to make things weird; this you're YOU'LL be the one starting uncomfortable conversations.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Would you believe that the hot new (very old) alternative medicine paste that indiscriminately burns your cells off is bad for you? We know, we were shocked too.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin take a swig from the new miracle drink Jilly Juice, which can not only cure every disease but can regrow limbs! (It can't, it makes you puke and poop and that's it, but you should listen anyway.)

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

We've spotted a boatload of your weird medical questions on the horizon and we've pointed our knowledge cannons at it and we're ... sinking it? Listen, the metaphor got away from us. We're sorry.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, we detail all the real medical conditions that have been mistaken for demonic possession and the modern day psychiatrists that are pushing for possession to be taken more seriously. 

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Dr. Sydnee and Justin asked why you, their beloved listeners, haven't gotten a flu shot and now they're taking 27 (yes, 27) of your most common excuses and blowing them to smithereens.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Dr. Price was a dentist with some pretty bad ideas about nutrition. That probably wouldn't have merited an appearance on Sawbones ... except those bad ideas went on to inspire a terrifying modern following.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week Justin and Dr. Sydnee try desperately to save you from cholera on a grand tour of the many different ways to die on The Oregon Trail.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

(Apologies if your player downloads this episode twice, we had an issue with the file we're trying to troubleshoot.)

You had to see this one coming. Yes, just a few short weeks after Justin's surgery, Dr. Sydnee decides to explain the complete history of vasectomies in excruciating detail in front a few thousand of their closest friends.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

We take for granted that we know what bodies look like on the inside, but this week on Sawbones we honor those brave pioneers that had to draw them for the very first time. Also Dr. Sydnee and Justin explore the scandal behind the most famous book of medical illustrations.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin discuss what we owe to people who do terrible things in the name of medical progress. 

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

People talk a lot of mess about drugs being dangerous, and they're right. But did you know that ether frolics, a delightfully named drug party, inspired a powerful anasthetic? It's true!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Asbestos has gotten a lot of bad publicity over the last century, but isn't that just because it's so incredibly dangerous for humans to inhale? Isn't that just another case of bias? As the current American administration seems to be clearing a path for asbestos to return to the spotlight, Justin and Dr. Sydnee looked into this misunderstood extremely hazardous substance. 

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Justin and Dr. Sydnee explore the history of Perkins' Tractors which are both 1. not what they sound like and 2. not what they claim to be. Mysterious!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

If the pill you've been taking has been helping you, but it's really made of sugar, would you want to know? Those and other thrilling ethical questions await in our discussion of the placebo effect.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

CBD oil is collecting a lot of adherents and getting a lot of buzz due to, in part, it being derived from cannabis. It won't get you high, but is CBD oil the panacea many are promoting it as? Let's discuss on this week's Sawbones!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, we explore a completely groundless testing method based on the same science as Ouija boards that's used by over a third of American chiropractors. 

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

In honor of the rescue of 12 boys and their coach from a cave in Thailand, we're discussing the history of dive medicine research that helped make it possible.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Ozone provides a helpful layer of sunscreen for Earth, but it's toxic to humans. It will come as no surprise to regular Sawbones listeners that we've spent the past couple hundred years trying to jam it in every possible orifice.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Imagine an incredible pill that could give you nausea and diarrhea and then once ejected from your body could be reused an endless number of times. Dream no more! Antimony is here!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

You've likely heard a lot about the ketogenic diet lately, but have you heard it wasn't created for weight loss? Maybe you did, Justin didn't. Either way, we'll talk about it and so much more on this week's episode of Sawbones.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin talk about their struggles with mental health. Trigger warning for discussion of depression, anxiety and suicide.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Does the position of the sun and the stars at the time of your birth determine your medical history? No! But some people thought it did. Scratch that, still do. Oh, and can we talk about Dr. Oz for a second?

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin hunt for the the soccer gene as they talk about the modern trend of DNA testing and read their own results for the first time on the show!

Here in our hemisphere, the sun is brutalizing us even now, weeks away from the start of summer. For many, that means the return of freckles. But where are these little guys coming from? And how can we burn them off with acid? This week, Sawbones asks the tough questions.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

East Coast fast food restaurants have been plagued recently by Hepatitis A scares. This week, live from the Columbus Podcast Festival, Justin and Dr. Sydnee take you behind the history of the disease.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee shares her breastfeeding experiences and discusses some of the stigma surrounding the practice in America. She and Justin also take some time to shatter breastfeeding myths.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones: Bones! We know, we thought it was weird it took us this long too. It's like ... right there in the title, you know? Anyway: BONES!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, we're talking about genetically-modified organisms. Should you be afraid when you see GMO on packaging? Or is genetic modification an incredible technology that may be humanity's best hope at avoiding extinction?

You'll have to listen to find out, but we've probably already tipped our hand.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

How well do you know your horrifying medical history? Find out this week as you test your knowledge with The Ghastly Gauntlet: A Sawbones Super Quiz! What will you score?

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Ever wonder what doctors do when they're not giving you a check up? Wonder how to get the most out of ever doctor's visit? We've got the answers for you in our new episode: The Secret Life of Doctors.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week we've got bee venom therapy another Goop favorite, that despite all the Gwenecdotal evidence may not be worth the risk. Hopefully Dr. Sydnee and Justin's goofing will help take the sting out of it.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week, Dr. Sydnee and Justin mark the passing of Stephen Hawking by discussing the disease that shaped his life and the unusual, prolific physician that discovered it.

Dr. Sydnee and Justin have talked about when you get sick at your house and when you're treated at the hospital, but isn't there a missing link? Isn't there something between those two things? What are Dr. Sydnee and Justin hiding? Well, nothing, they just have never talked about ambulances before. So here we go.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

We've been gone for a little while, but with good reason! We had another baby. To save ourselves sisterly in-fighting in their teen years, we're recounting the (slightly less eventful) birth of our second daughter this week.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Does chewing Excedrin really make it work faster? Does gasoline help a bee sting? We'll answer those queries and many more as Dr. Sydnee and Justin take on more of your weird medical questions.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, it's the story of a miraculous cure and how we all have to work together to protect it. Join Dr. Sydnee and Justin for the story of antibiotics.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin rub two different kinds of poop on your throat because they don't know iodine exists. Join us for a history of the goiter.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week, we devote an entire episode of our medical podcast to discouraging people from eating detergent pods. 2018 is off to a great start.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Do you need a doctor and her lovely sidekick to tell you that you shouldn't drink dirty water? No, probably not. But, infuriatingly, some people do. So we will. Let's talk about "raw water."

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

For your listening edification, Dr. Sydnee McElroy and her lovely assistant Justin McElroy are delighted to present a full accounting of the injuries likely sustained by the Wet Bandits.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

The CDC was recently asked by the Trump administration to stop using seven terms like "fetus" and "transgender" in budget requests. But certainly there's precedent for this right? Certainly this happens all the time, right? RIGHT? This week join Dr. Sydnee and Justin for a history of the CDC and medical censorship.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, we join you live from Seattle. Seeing as this town took place in the home of Starbucks, we took the opportunity to extoll the many medicinal virtues of coffee.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, Justin and Dr. Sydnee explore all the weird, terrible ways we've tried to fix one of the human body's most basic problem. It's a history of wound care!

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week, Dr. Sydnee and Justin introduce you to Martin Couney, the (maybe) doctor who put babies into a carnival side show and saved a generation of preemies.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

This week on Sawbones, Dr. Sydnee and Justin visit Disneyland and the only souvenir they bring back is an investigation into the history of Legionnaires' Disease.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers

Grilling season is over in our part of the U.S. and Justin wants to know what he's gonna do with all this left over charcoal. The answer, according to Dr. Sydnee? EVERYTHING.

Music: "Medicines" by The Taxpayers