The 15 Best Medical Crime Podcasts Like Dr. Death

Drug addiction has long been a problem in America, though the names and long-term consequences have changed through the decades.

In American Rehab, learn about a facility that promised to help through drug addiction but in reality turned tens of thousands of people into an unpaid, shadow workforce – right in our country.

When someone promises a wonder cure for all that ails you, can you believe them? Generally, no – and Bad Batch looks at a specific example of why that skepticism is well-founded.

In this Wondery show, you’ll learn about the stem cell industry, and how companies are operating on the edges of the medical profession to promise miracles – even when there’s no proof they’ll deliver (or protection when they don’t).

In 2015, Wall Street Journal writer John Carreyrou broke the story of med-tech company Theranos and the fraud behind it. Now he’s back to share another chapter in the story, perhaps the final one.

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is currently on trial, and Bad Blood: The Final Chapter follows the trial as it unfolds.

Another fascinating podcast that looks at the intersection of the systems that aim to help us live better and criminal justice, Do No Harm looks at what happens when the systems that protect us are overzealous.

Follow the story of Melissa and Dillon Bright, two innocent parents accused of child abuse by a system that can easily do more harm than good.

Nurses are perhaps the most underappreciated part of the medical industry, and Good Nurse Bad Nurse sheds light on their important role – and the responsibility we trust them with.

Through interviews with fellow nurses, host Tina discussed superhero healthcare providers – and those who commit medical crimes.

Sick is one of those great words with multiple meanings – especially in the world of medical crime podcasts. In this podcast, Sick explores medical injustices, specifically what happens when a doctor impregnates his own patients.

Journalists Jake Harper and Lauren Bavis follow the story of one such doctor – not the only one, as you’ll see further down this list – and the ramifications for generations of lives he created – and changed.

The Baron of Botox is perhaps the least “criminal” on this list of podcasts like Dr. Death, but it’s one of the most similar in storytelling and style.

It attempts to peel away the layers of Dr. Fredric Brandt, one of the most renowned cosmetic surgeons in the world – and who committed suicide in 2015. Justine Harman (who also co-hosted Broken Harts) hosts this compelling examination of one complex doctor.

8. The Drop Out

The Drop Out is another podcast focused on Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos scandal – it’s actually the first podcast about it.

In the first season, you’ll learn all the details of Holmes’ rise to prominence in Silicon Valley, followed by her fall from grace as her fraud was revealed. Now the show is back to analyze and discuss the trial against her as it unfolds in real-time.

While the stories that fill podcasts like Dr. Death might seem constrained to America and our warped healthcare system, other countries are not immune to medical crimes.

In The Immaculate Deception, you’ll follow the stories of several Dutch people who discover that their mother’s fertility doctor – Jan Karbaat – was really impregnating all of his clients with his own sperm. This podcast also looks at the ramifications for these children as they navigate the world and gene pool.

As a journalist, sometimes the story just drops in your lap; so it goes for The Shrink Next Door. In it, journalist Joe Nocera discovers that his neighbor in the Hamptons is not actually the homeowner – he’s the homeowner’s psychiatrist, and is, in reality, pulling the strings on every aspect of his client’s life… and that’s not the only client he’s done this to.

Nocera attempts to unpack the mind be hind the man who was supposed to help others’ mental health, but instead marked them for years- and decades-long cons.

While American Scandal is not a medical crime podcast, nor are all seasons like Dr. Death, there are a few seasons of the popular show that cover medical crimes and the warped minds – like Dr. Death – behind them.

Season 8 covers the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, one of the worst abuses of racial medical experimentation in the U.S. Season 26 follows Lance Armstrong on his own medical scandal, and Season 27 dives into the history of lobotomies as championed by the Ice Pick Surgeon, Walter Jackson Freeman.

Season 3 of Breakdown by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is another podcast (season) like Dr. Death.

While other seasons focus on various crimes, in this specific season, the podcast examines a doctor who abuses the trust – and physical bodies – of his patients. It also looks at how the medical industry protects doctors accused of crimes – just like Dr. Death.

Wellness sounds like a great word, but what does it really mean?

In Season 2 of The Dream, learn more about the Wellness industry, and all the shady back dealings that go on behind the scenes to allow wellness companies to sell, well, The Dream… and what happens when it all turns out to be smoke, mirrors, and lacking FDA approval.

14. Dr. Death: Dr. Fata

Just in case you’re not aware, I wanted to end this list of podcasts like Dr. Death with the other “seasons” of the hit show.

Wondery has released Dr. Death as independent shows of the same name; in “Season 2,” Dr. Death follows the story of Dr. Fata. This doctor promised his patients the best cancer care, but was hiding a dark secret that eventually came to light… and illuminated the trail of bodies he left behind.

15. Dr. Death: Miracle Man

Finally, don’t miss the latest “season” of Dr. Death: Miracle Man. It came out earlier this year and might be the most audacious story of medical malpractice in the limelight yet.

Dr. Paolo Macchiarini seemed like a miracle worker in the world of artificial transplants, and was so charming that he wooed his documentarian into an engagement. But with a little digging, it became clear: he was anything but the lifesaving hero he crafted his image to be.