038 - Coffee and Medical Errors

The podcast’s third-year anniversary celebration turns out to be the perfect time to discuss coffee. Does it prevent disease… or cause disease? Why are pregnant women told to avoid excessive caffeine consumption if it’s a wonder drug? And, if it’s a drug, is it addictive? We discuss its purported links to miscarriages, birth defects, fertility, cardiac risk, blood pressure, cancer, migraine, and Parkinson’s disease. Plus: why complications are not the same as medical error, and the really bad study that led to the pronouncement that cell phone exposure was associated with increased risk of miscarriages.   The BMJ article on medical errors being the third leading cause of death: http://www.bmj.com/content/353/bmj.i2139   The Vox.com article on cell phones and miscarriages: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/2/15/17008482/cellphones-cancer-miscarriage-health   Details on the Science Moms screening taking place on March 26: https://mcgill.ca/oss/channels/event/science-moms-film-screening-and-panel-discussion-284437   Jingle by Joseph Hackl of Voodoo Jazz.   Additional music by Seth Donnelly and Kevin MacLeod.   Theme music: "Troll of the Mountain Swing" by the Underscore Orkestra.   To contribute to The Body of Evidence, go to our Patreon page at: http://www.patreon.com/thebodyofevidence/.