Who decides which snacks are in your office’s vending machine? How much is a suburban elm tree worth, and to whom? How did Girl Scout Cookies become a billion-dollar business? In bite-sized episodes, journalist Zachary Crockett looks at quotidian things and finds amazing stories. Join the Freakonomics Radio Plus membership program for weekly member-only episodes of Freakonomics Radio. You’ll also get every show in our network without ads. To sign up, visit our show page on Apple Podcasts or go to freakonomics.com/plus.
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episode 40: 40. Prosthetic Limbs
More and more Americans rely on prostheses. They’re custom-fitted, highly personal, and extremely expensive. Zachary Crockett investigates.
- SOURCES:
- Jordan Beckwith, YouTuber and advocate.
- Eric Neufeld, owner and medical director of Agile Orthopedics.
- RESOURCES:
- "Medicare Coverage of Durable Medical Equipment & Other Devices," by Medicare (2024).
- "Limb Loss in the U.S.," infographic by the Amputee Coalition (2022).
- "A Robot Hand Helps Amputees 'Feel' Again," by Jeffery Delviscio (Scientific American, 2019).
- "Differences in Myoelectric and Body-Powered Upper-Limb Prostheses: Systematic Literature Review," by Stephanie L. Carey, Derek J. Lura, and Jason Highsmith (Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 2015).
- "Local Coverage Determination: Lower Limb Prostheses," from the Medicare Coverage Database (effective 2015).
- "Variation in the Care of Surgical Conditions: Diabetes and Peripheral Arterial Disease," by Philip P. Goodney, Nino Dzebisashvili, David C. Goodman, and Kristen K. Bronner (Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care Series, 2014).
- "Estimating the Prevalence of Limb Loss in the United States: 2005 to 2050," by Kathryn Ziegler-Graham, Ellen J. MacKenzie, Patti L. Ephraim, Thomas G. Travison, and Ron Brookmeyer (Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2008).