About this episode

Dr. Dave McCarty discusses the complexities of sleep apnea and the importance of patient-centered care in sleep medicine.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Dave McCarty - board-certified in internal medicine and sleep medicine, Chief Medical Officer of Rebis, and the visionary behind the Empowered Sleep Apnea Project - for one of the richest conversations I've had on this show. We go deep on why the AHI is far more limited than most providers and patients realize, trace the history of sleep apnea from Dickens' "Fat Joe" to the invention of CPAP, and unpack a landmark trial now questioning whether high-pressure CPAP may cause harm. Dave draws a compelling parallel between today's resistance to airway-focused thinking in dentistry and the tragic story of Ignaz Semmelweis, the physician who discovered handwashing saves lives and was institutionalized for it. We also make the case for nasal breathing, tackle the real limits of evidence-based medicine, and Dave shares his vision for Rebis: an integrated sleep medicine ecosystem that puts the patient, not the algorithm, at the center. Timestamps 0:00 – Introduction & Dr. Dave McCarty bio 2:40 – Dave's origin story: from primary care to sleep medicine ("I'm a recovering primary care doc") 12:32 – Cold-calling Tom Colquitt & the dental-airway…

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