Episodi

  • He Cut Without Consent: The Surgeon Who Evaded Accountability

    He Cut Without Consent: The Surgeon Who Evaded Accountability
    Oct 16 2026
    He Cut Without Consent: The Surgeon Who Evaded Accountability

    A woman went under anesthesia in winter 2002 expecting a small lesion removed - but woke to find her clitoris had been cut; the surgeon had already amassed thirty-five complaints and a formal restriction, yet he continued practicing in the public system. How did a doctor with documented abuses, a suspended practice, and psychiatric evaluations still gain new hospital roles and operate on vulnerable patients?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events that placed Graeme Stephen Reeves back into public hospitals despite prior adverse findings and suspensions, and trace the internal memos, unread referrals, and missed verifications that allowed him to work on the South Coast. Where did the chain of responsibility break, and who ignored the warnings that could have stopped him?

    Person: Graeme Stephen Reeves
    Date of birth: 1949
    Period: 1985-2008 (career events documented)
    Complaints: 35 formal complaints before 2002
    Investigations: deaths of 10 babies and 7 women under review by Feb 2008

    - Appointed visiting medical officer at Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital on 20 December 1985.
    - First formal complaint arrived six months after his 1985 appointment.
    - In May 1996 a patient died of septicemia after he refused to prescribe antibiotics; the hospital suspended his privileges.
    - Professional Standards Committee imposed a formal restriction on his obstetric practice by August 1997.
    - Reeves began working for the Greater Southern Area Health Service in April 2002 without disclosing the Professional Standards Committee restriction.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    26 min
  • He Cut Without Consent: The Australian Surgeon Women Warned About

    He Cut Without Consent: The Australian Surgeon Women Warned About
    Oct 15 2026
    He Cut Without Consent: The Australian Surgeon Women Warned About

    When a routine operation turned into an unexpected clitoridectomy, an ordinary woman woke up missing a body part she never consented to - and her case was only the tip of a crisis spanning nearly two decades. Thirty-five complaints, seventeen criminal charges, and the deaths of ten infants and seven women followed one surgeon’s path through hospitals that repeatedly renewed his access; how did the system let this happen?

    In this episode, we trace the sequence of events, hospital decisions, and missing paperwork that allowed Graeme Stephen Reeves to keep practicing despite formal restrictions, and ask how institutional blindness enabled harm that might have been prevented.

    Person: Graeme Stephen Reeves
    Date: 2002 (Carolyn Dewaegeneire's operation)
    Location: Bega Hospital, New South Wales
    Period: mid-1980s to 2004 (career span covered)
    Case: 35 documented complaints; 17 criminal charges

    - Carolyn Dewaegeneire underwent surgery in 2002 and woke up having had a clitoridectomy without informed consent.
    - Investigators later counted 35 separate complaints lodged against Reeves over fifteen years.
    - Reeves faced 17 criminal charges and was connected to the deaths of 10 infants and 7 women.
    - A Professional Standards Committee in August 1997 explicitly prohibited Reeves from practicing obstetrics.
    - In April 2002, an application to the Greater Southern Area Health Service omitted the 1997 restriction and Reeves was hired without the Medical Board being contacted.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    29 min
  • The Molecule That Nearly Became LSD - Silenced by Nausea

    The Molecule That Nearly Became LSD - Silenced by Nausea
    Oct 14 2026
    The Molecule That Nearly Became LSD - Silenced by Nausea

    In this episode, we tell the story of quipazine from its 1966 discovery through human trials and animal experiments, tracing why it was classified as antidepressant-like and then abandoned - and asking whether the nausea problem closed a door science has not yet reopened.

    Person: anonymous human volunteers
    Date: 1966 (first description)
    Compound: quipazine (one-2-quinolinyl-piperazine; “two-QP”)
    Dose: 25 mg oral caused significant gastrointestinal distress
    Receptor profile: potent 5-HT3 agonist; agonist at 5-HT2A/2B/2C; inhibits serotonin reuptake

    - Quipazine was first described in 1966 and later labeled antidepressant-like by 1971.
    - Oral doses of 25 mg in humans produced significant nausea, vomiting, cramping, flatulence and diarrhea.
    - Quipazine is a 1-(2-quinolinyl)-piperazine (also called two-QP) synthesized from 2-chloroquinoline and piperazine.
    - In rodents and monkeys quipazine produced the head-twitch response characteristic of classical psychedelics.
    - In drug discrimination studies, rats fully substituted quipazine for LSD, indicating indistinguishable drug-state effects in that model.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    33 min
  • The "(sic)" Dose: How Quipazine Haunted Psychiatry's Psychedelic Moment

    The "(sic)" Dose: How Quipazine Haunted Psychiatry's Psychedelic Moment
    Oct 13 2026
    The "(sic)" Dose: How Quipazine Haunted Psychiatry's Psychedelic Moment

    A tiny notation in a scientific paper - “0.5 mg (sic)” - froze researchers because the number was real and inexplicable, and the compound it described was never meant to be a psychedelic. Quipazine activated both the 5‑HT2A receptor linked to hallucinogens and the 5‑HT3 receptor that causes severe nausea, leaving animal studies screaming psychedelic signals while human trials reported only sickness; how could the same molecule tell such different stories?

    In this episode, we lay out the sequence of experiments, results, and interpretations that turned quipazine into a scientific paradox, from rodent head‑twitches and LSD substitution to primate vomiting and a discontinued 25 mg human trial; can receptor overlap explain why quipazine’s psychedelic promise never reached people?

    Person: James Winter
    Date: 1994
    Dose in publication: 0.5 mg (sic)
    Human trial dose: 25 mg
    Animal result: full substitution for LSD in drug discrimination studies

    - Rodents given quipazine produced a rapid repetitive head‑twitch response matching LSD and mescaline patterns.
    - In drug discrimination experiments rodents trained on LSD could not distinguish quipazine from LSD, indicating full substitution.
    - Monkey trials at psychedelic‑range doses produced projectile vomiting described as severe, linked to 5‑HT3 activation.
    - Human volunteer trial at 25 mg resulted in nausea with no reported LSD‑like subjective effects and was discontinued.
    - James Winter proposed in 1994 that 5‑HT3 receptor activation prevented reaching 5‑HT2A‑mediated effects at tolerable doses.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    25 min
  • When a Trusted Doctor Used Trust to Mutilate: The Reeves Betrayal

    When a Trusted Doctor Used Trust to Mutilate: The Reeves Betrayal
    Oct 12 2026
    When a Trusted Doctor Used Trust to Mutilate: The Reeves Betrayal

    A trusted specialist performed a clitoridectomy on a patient who had asked only for a small lesion to be removed, after telling her in the seconds before anaesthesia what he intended to do. How could a man with thirty-five complaints, a formal obstetrics ban and prior patient deaths be hired and allowed to operate in plain sight for years?

    In this episode, we lay out the sequence of events, the institutional records, and the personal harm that followed, showing how warnings and restrictions appeared on paper yet were ignored - how did that happen, and who carried the cost?

    Person: Graeme Stephen Reeves
    Date: 2002 (Carolyn Dewaegeneire appointment)
    Location: New South Wales South Coast
    Event: Clitoridectomy performed without consent
    Period: Complaints logged 1985-2000

    - Reeves had 35 complaints logged between 1985 and 2000.
    - He faced 17 criminal counts and was linked to 10 dead babies and 7 dead women whose cases were reopened.
    - In August 1997 the Professional Standards Committee banned Reeves from practising obstetrics.
    - A 2002 April reference check by Greater Southern Area Health Service recorded the obstetrics restriction but Reeves was hired anyway that month.
    - Carolyn Dewaegeneire was told in the seconds before anaesthesia that a clitoridectomy would be performed and woke up having had that procedure without consent.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    18 min
  • The Drug That Restored Deep Sleep-and Then Vanished Forever

    The Drug That Restored Deep Sleep-and Then Vanished Forever
    Oct 11 2026
    The Drug That Restored Deep Sleep-and Then Vanished Forever

    Sleep turned lethal: a surgical anesthetic meant for operating rooms was given by IV in a private bedroom, night after night for weeks, to a fifty-year-old preparing a comeback. The coroner ruled acute propofol intoxication and listed the manner of death as homicide - so how did a cardiologist end up administering propofol as a sleep aid in a home with no monitoring protocol?

    In this episode, we tell the episode’s narrative from the bedroom on Carolwood Drive to the courtroom questions that followed, covering the medical background, the financial pressures, and the sequence of events that led to a physician’s custody of a surgical drug for home use - and ask how that combination produced a fatal outcome.

    Person: Conrad Robert Murray
    Date: June 25, 2009
    Cause of death: Acute propofol intoxication with benzodiazepines as contributing factor
    Manner of death: Homicide
    Patient age: 50

    - Propofol was administered intravenously in Michael Jackson’s bedroom repeatedly over weeks, according to Murray’s sworn statement.
    - Michael Jackson died on the morning of June 25, 2009, and the coroner found propofol as the cause.
    - Conrad Murray was born February 19, 1953, in Grenada and completed cardiology fellowship at the University of Arizona.
    - Court records showed Murray had over $600,000 in outstanding judgments and owed $71,000 in student loans to Meharry.
    - Murray was hired for $150,000 per month to serve as Michael Jackson’s personal physician during the London residency concerts.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    27 min
  • When Doctors Become Weapons: The Notebook That Witnessed Torture

    When Doctors Become Weapons: The Notebook That Witnessed Torture
    Oct 10 2026
    When Doctors Become Weapons: The Notebook That Witnessed Torture

    Grim proof that medicine can be twisted into an instrument of destruction: a small clinical notebook from Tuol Sleng records procedures and outcomes on at least seventeen people labeled as human experiments. How did professional medical practice become state-sanctioned torture, and what can one battered exercise-book tell us about the structures that made it possible?

    In this episode, we follow a single object - the Tuol Sleng notebook - and trace the recurring mechanism by which physicians, institutions, and states convert care into harm across the twentieth century and beyond. From Phnom Penh to Manchuria, from Nazi death camps to Soviet psychiatric wards, the episode maps the legal and ethical responses and asks whether declarations and codes ever stopped the practice.

    Person: Dietrich Bonhoeffer
    Location: Tuol Sleng, Phnom Penh
    Period: 1937-1945 (Unit 731); 1975-1979 (Tuol Sleng)
    Event: Human experiments recorded as pisaot menuh
    Document: Declaration of Tokyo, 1975

    - The notebook documents clinical procedures and outcomes on at least 17 detainees labeled as human experiments.
    - Tuol Sleng, converted from a secondary school into Security Prison Twenty-One, detained an estimated 17,000 people between 1975 and 1979.
    - Unit 731 operated from 1937 to 1945 in Japanese-occupied Manchuria, with historians estimating up to 10,000 deaths directly from its experiments.
    - Nuremberg, the Declaration of Geneva, and the Geneva Conventions produced legal and ethical limits on human experimentation after World War II.
    - The Declaration of Tokyo in 1975 explicitly stated that physicians may not participate in torture.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    29 min
  • When Doctors Became Executioners: The Notebook That Proves It

    When Doctors Became Executioners: The Notebook That Proves It
    Oct 9 2026
    When Doctors Became Executioners: The Notebook That Proves It

    The notebook found in 1978 at a former prison in Phnom Penh records clinical procedures on at least seventeen detainees and names the Khmer Rouge term pisaot menuh - human experiments - raising the chilling possibility that medical training was repurposed as a tool of systematic harm. How did professionals sworn to care become architects or enablers of torture and experimentation across the twentieth century?

    In this episode, we trace a line from the Tuol Sleng notebook through Unit Seven Thirty-One, Nazi camp experiments, Soviet political psychiatry, and abuses in democratic institutions to ask whether these were isolated outrages or manifestations of a repeatable process - and what the existing medical and legal frameworks did or did not prevent.

    Person: Dietrich Bonhoeffer
    Event: discovery of notebook in Phnom Penh prison, 1978
    Case: Unit Seven Thirty-One (1937-1945), up to 10,000 killed
    Period: Nazi medical experiments prosecuted at Nuremberg after World War II
    Location: Lake Alice psychiatric hospital, New Zealand (1972-1978)

    - The Phnom Penh notebook documents procedures performed on at least 17 detainees and was kept by someone with medical training.
    - Unit Seven Thirty-One operated from 1937 to 1945 in Japanese-occupied Manchuria and involved deliberate infection and vivisection, with estimates of victims up to 10,000.
    - Nazi physicians such as Josef Mengele conducted non-consensual twin studies; some medical personnel were convicted and executed at Nuremberg.
    - Soviet psychiatry created the diagnosis "sluggish schizophrenia" to detain dissenters and used neuroleptic drugs as chemical punishment without observable symptom requirements.
    - Lake Alice admitted 362 children and young people between 1972 and 1978; a Royal Commission later found unmodified ECT without anesthesia and paraldehyde injections amounted to torture.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    Mostra di più Mostra meno
    32 min