00:00You called birth control pills, and I'm going to quote, a disrespect of life.
00:05I'm curious if you're aware of what the side effects of hormonal contraception are.
00:09If you are with the FDA that went through all of these and rigorously looked at them,
00:16or as surgeon general, if you're going to tell the truth to the American people.
00:20I absolutely believe these medications should be accessible to all women.
00:23Some of the horrifying side effects of birth control that I have mentioned include blood clots and stroke risk in
00:31women.
00:31Do you stand by what you said in your book, encouraging people to try psychedelics?
00:40I think the science is still emerging, and so it would certainly not be a recommendation to the American people
00:46to do that under no circumstances.
00:49As surgeon general, should you be confirmed, how would you speak to the American people about the use of illicit
00:57drugs?
00:58I recommend that to the American people in this role.
01:01Our illicit drug use problem in our country is monumental and severe,
01:06and I look forward to working with you on these issues that are so important.
01:11You called birth control pills, and I'm going to quote, a disrespect of life,
01:17and you said Americans, quote, use birth control pills like candy.
01:21You also claimed, contrary to established science, that hormonal birth control has, quote, horrifying health risks for women.
01:29Now, here are the facts.
01:31There are 18 FDA-approved contraceptive methods, both hormonal and non-hormonal,
01:38and there are decades, decades of evidence showing that every one of these birth control methods is safe and effective.
01:45So I wanted to ask you, help me understand, should women trust the FDA,
01:49which approved all 18 methods of birth control after a very rigorous look at the evidence,
01:55or should they trust your statement that there are horrifying health risks to birth control,
02:01which contradicts that evidence?
02:03Thank you, Senator Murray, for your question.
02:08I'm curious if you're aware of what the side effects of hormonal contraception are.
02:13I'm curious if you are with the FDA that went through all of these and rigorously looked at them,
02:20or as Surgeon General, if you're going to tell the truth to the American people.
02:24I absolutely believe these medications should be accessible to all women,
02:28and also, all medications have risks and benefits,
02:32and in our current medical climate, with the burden on doctors,
02:35we do not have, doctors do not have enough time for thorough, informed consent conversations.
02:39Some of the horrifying side effects of birth control that I have mentioned include blood clots and stroke risk in
02:46women
02:47who have clotting disorders, who are smokers, who have obesity.
02:50No, it's not general.
02:53I'm very careful with my words, and when I say those comments, which are taken out of context,
02:57I'm speaking about particular women that can be heard if there is not informed consent about their medical history,
03:04their lifestyle exposures, and their family history.
03:05I want those women, and I know you do too, to be able to have a thorough conversation with their
03:10doctor
03:10and know whether they are at higher risk for side effects when prescribed the medication.
03:14Saying that is one thing, but saying on, you know, different shows that birth control pills are a disrespective life
03:23is very different.
03:24I am passionate about women's health, and I think it is disrespectful to women.
03:29Saying that people use birth controls like candy is very different than what you just said.
03:35We prescribe a huge amount of hormonal contraceptive, and I do not believe most of those conversations have informed consent
03:42because of the pressures that doctors are under because of our broken health care system.
03:46I want what's best for women, as do you, and I want every woman who could be at risk for
03:51a side effect to know if a woman died from a stroke or a blood clot
03:57because they did not have a thorough conversation.
03:59Thank you for your answer. You made that clear.
04:00I am concerned that in your book, On Good Energy, that you urge readers to consider psilocybin-assisted therapy.
04:15You also said that you were inspired to try psychedelics in what I can only describe as an internal voice
04:27as an internal voice that whispered, it's time to prepare.
04:32Illicit drug use remains a huge problem in this country, and this didn't happen in your teen years.
04:42According to your book, in 2021, you began using illicit psychedelic mushrooms.
04:52So my questions to you are twofold.
04:58One, do you stand by what you said in your book, encouraging people to try psychedelics?
05:08And second, as Surgeon General, should you be confirmed, how would you speak to the American people about the use
05:18of illicit drugs?
05:21Thank you so much, Senator Collins, and I also thank you sincerely for engaging so deeply with my work and
05:27learning about me.
05:30This is a very important question, and I would start by just saying that I believe what I would say
05:37as a private citizen
05:38is in many cases different than what I would say as a public health official, joining a team where the
05:45purpose of this role is to communicate absolutely the best evidence-based science
05:49to the American people to keep them safe, thriving, and healthy.
05:54And when it comes to psychedelic therapy for mental health issues, I think the science is still emerging,
06:01and so it would certainly not be a recommendation to the American people to do that under no circumstances.
06:08I do believe that there is exciting work being done in this area that needs to continue on psychedelic therapies
06:18for PTSD and veterans,
06:20for mental health issues, and some of the researchers who are doing this work have said it's some of the
06:26most promising
06:27and exciting of their entire careers. So I look forward to following that, but to be very clear,
06:31under no circumstances would I recommend that to the American people in this role.
06:35Our illicit drug use problem in our country is monumental and severe, and I look forward to working with you
06:43on these issues that are so important.
06:46What did you mean by saying that you heard an internal voice whispering to you saying,
06:53it's time to prepare?
06:56Yeah, in that passage of the book, I'm referring to my mother's passing, which happened,
07:02she got a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer about a week after that experience.
07:09And in my meditations and prayers at that time, I was having a deep sense that something ominous was coming.
07:18And so that's what that's referring to.
07:21I think when I speak of spirituality, and I do believe Americans are ready to hear about spirituality as it
07:33pertains to medicine.
07:3480% of Americans are spiritual or religious.
07:37There's amazing evidence coming out of Columbia University, the lab of Dr. Lisa Miller,
07:41that spirituality has a large impact on health outcomes.
07:45And, you know, so certainly that's a personal anecdote.
07:49But, you know, I, again, I'm committed to sharing only the best solid science with Americans on how to be
07:59healthy.
08:02I understand totally what you're saying about spirituality, and I'm sorry about the loss of your mother.
08:10It's the link to illicit drugs that I'm having a hard time with.
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