Like tens of millions of people, Stephen Dubner thought he had a penicillin allergy. Like the vast majority, he didn’t. This misdiagnosis costs billions of dollars and causes serious health problems, so why hasn’t it been fixed? We find out in this update of a 2025 episode.
  
<ul>
 <li>SOURCES:
 <ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.mayo.edu/research/faculty/blumenthal-kimberly-g-m-d-m-sc/bio-20591688" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kimberly Blumenthal</a>, allergist-immunologist and researcher at the Mayo Clinic.</li>
 <li><a href="https://theresamacphail.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Theresa MacPhail</a>, associate professor of science and technology studies at Stevens Institute of Technology.</li>
 <li><a href="https://uvahealth.com/findadoctor/Thomas-Platts-Mills-1649395674" rel="noopener noreferrer">Thomas Platts-Mills</a>, professor of medicine at the University of Virginia.</li>
 <li><a href="https://profiles.mountsinai.org/elena-s-resnick" rel="noopener noreferrer">Elena Resnick</a>, allergist and immunologist at Mount Sinai Hospital.</li>
 </ul></li>
</ul>
 
<ul>
 <li>RESOURCES:
 <ul>
 <li><a href="https://amzn.to/4h9Atj2" rel="noopener noreferrer">Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World</a>, by Theresa MacPhail (2023).</li>
 <li>"<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2720732" rel="noopener noreferrer">Evaluation and Management of Penicillin Allergy: A Review</a>," by Erica S. Shenoy, Eric Macy, and Theresa Rowe (JAMA, 2019).</li>
 <li>"<a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4617537/" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Allergy Epidemics: 1870–2010</a>," by Thomas Platts-Mills (The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2016).</li>
 <li>"<a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1414850" rel="noopener noreferrer">Randomized Trial of Peanut Consumption in Infants at Risk for Peanut Allergy</a>," by George Du Toit, Graham Roberts, et al. (The New England Journal of Medicine, 2015).</li>
 </ul></li>
</ul>
 
<ul>
 <li>EXTRAS:
 <ul>
 <li>"<a href="https://freakonomics.com/the-freakonomics-radio-guide-to-getting-better/" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Freakonomics Radio Guide to Getting Better</a>," series by Freakonomics Radio (2026).</li>
 <li>"<a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast/doctors-know-they-prescribe-too-many-antibiotics-why-dont-they-stop/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Doctors Know They Prescribe Too Many Antibiotics. Why Don’t They Stop?</a>" by Freakonomics, M.D. (2022).</li>
 </ul></li>
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