The COVID-19 pandemic is turning life upside down. As hundreds of thousands fall ill, billions of others are now stricken with fear and wondering whether they will be next to become infected. As life grinds to a halt worldwide the entire situation is surreal. Did it have to be this way? On this episode of The Exam Room™ podcast, “The Weight Loss Champion” Chuck Carroll is joined by Dr. Neal Barnard and Wendy Orent, author of Plague: The Mysterious Past and Terrifying Future of the World’s Most Dangerous Disease and Bio Warrior to explore the missteps that may have prevented the pandemic. The group discusses the exotic meat markets in China that are believed to be ground zero for the virus. The conditions under which the live animals are kept have turned the markets into breeding grounds for virus transmission. More alarmingly, Chuck and Wendy delve into the restrictions imposed on the markets following the SARS outbreak nearly 20 years ago and how they likely would have prevented this pandemic from happening. Why were those restrictions lifted? She first wrote about this in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times and now takes a deeper look on The Exam Room™. Dr. Barnard then takes the conversation further to explore how poultry farms and meat plants are rife with bacteria that puts all of our health at risk — even vegans. — — — Chuck Carroll Twitter: @ChuckCarrollWLC IG: @ChuckCarrollWLC Facebook: https://wghtloss.cc/ChuckFacebook — — — Dr. Neal Barnard Twitter: @DrNealBarnard IG: @DrNealBarnard Facebook: http://bit.ly/DrBarnardFB — — — Wendy Orent Twitter: @WendyOrent Op-Ed: This new coronavirus was preventable: https://lat.ms/2TZuqFZ Books Plague: The Mysterious Past and Terrifying Future of the World’s Most Dangerous Disease: https://amzn.to/33oy67e Bio Warrior: https://amzn.to/2x3Bs3u — — — Physicians Committee Twitter: @PCRM IG: @PhysiciansCommittee Facebook: https://wghtloss.cc/PCRMFacebook — — — Share the Show Please subscribe and give the show a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or many other podcast providers. Don’t forget to share it with a friend for inspiration!