Can faith help patients heal? Veteran doctor reveals what he's witnessed firsthand
Dr. Marc Siegel, physician and Fox News senior medical analyst, explores the intersection of spirituality, clinical treatment and unexplained medical recoveries in his new book, "The Angels Among Us."
Examining how faith, human empathy and modern medicine converge during health crises, the book draws on medical research, historical cases and firsthand clinical experience.
"You don't draw the line between an explanation that's medical or spiritual. They're combined," Siegel told Fox News Digital. "And the more doctors that remember that, the better."
DR. MARC SIEGEL: 'THE ANGELS AMONG US' — A DYING WOMAN, THE SHOFAR AND THE MIRACLE THAT FOLLOWED
Siegel cites survey data indicating that 70% of physicians believe in God and 55% report witnessing medical miracles in practice.
In the book, out this November, he expands the definition of "angels" beyond ethereal beings to include doctors, nurses and ordinary people whose timely interventions have led to unexplained recoveries or vital support.
"The messengers are either actual angels from God that come down, that can take human form, that are voices where you don't have a visualization, or they can be humans that God appoints to do angel-like work," Siegel said.
"I started to identify humans who play the role of angels in our lives."
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Among the cases featured in the book are U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Spencer Milo, who received a terminal brain tumor diagnosis after suffering severe trauma in Iraq.
While seeking a second opinion at the University of California, San Francisco, Milo met a Benedictine monk. Subsequent imaging revealed that the tumor was benign.
Milo also credits former President George W. Bush with providing pivotal emotional support during a later personal crisis, identifying both as instrumental to his recovery.
Siegel references his residency training in intensive care units, sharing the story of an ICU patient who remained in a coma for three months following severe brain trauma. Despite receiving a negative prognosis, the patient unexpectedly regained consciousness and eventually returned to work.
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"That embroidered on me the need to not give up — the need to look for explanations beyond just the purely physical," Siegel said.
"My role is not to decide who lives and who dies. My role is to relieve suffering and prolong life."
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The book also includes personal accounts drawn from Siegel's own family, including his father’s four-year survival on dialysis via a catheter after surviving severe COVID-19 and complex emergency surgery at age 98.
Other cases highlight sudden medical reversals, such as a critically ill ICU patient who reported seeing comforting spiritual figures just before her condition stabilized.
Additionally, the book incorporates historical accounts, including an interview with Dr. David Gens, a lead surgeon who treated President Ronald Reagan following his 1981 assassination attempt. Gens detailed emergency room triage decisions, Secret Service dynamics and Reagan's recovery.
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Siegel also discusses the origins of Alcoholics Anonymous, focusing on co-founder Bill Wilson's spiritual awakening at Towns Hospital in New York and the peer-support model that followed.
Siegel emphasizes that while faith and prayer do not replace clinical care or guarantee survival, spirituality remains a key factor in patient resilience.
"Spirituality affects outcomes because it's a prerequisite to the courage to overcome," Siegel said. "Great doctoring helps enormously, but prayer and hope give patients the strength to keep fighting."
"The Angels Among Us" is available for pre-order.