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The Swedish response has long been considered the polar opposite of the US response. The basis of those responses is “follow the science,” although the science of the Swedes is diametrically opposed to ours. But if we set the science aside, what is far more interesting is the similarity of the criticisms – mirror images despite “inverted” scientific underpinnings.

Could it be that the divisiveness over COVID policies has more to do with human behavior than scientific fact? Considering how Swedish culture and law shaped their response, it becomes clearer that COVID wars are just another skirmish in a larger cultural war. As you read the Swedish criticism of their COVID strategy, consider how they echo the same underlying concerns in the US.

A bit of background...

We at ACSH never write articles about TikTok fashion celebrities or the benefits of sticking metal rods in your urethra because we have no interest in or knowledge of those topics. If you want to learn more about "People Who Stick Things Down Their Pee Hole," the fearless journalists at Vice News have the gritty details. Vice contributors will also pontificate about pesticides, though I encourage you to stay here if you want accurate information.

I mention our varying spheres of expertise because Vice recently published...

Would our deceased Presidents fare better today medically than they did in their respective eras? The answer might surprise you.

Of the thirty-eight United States’ presidents who have died, collectively, they surpassed life expectancies of their respective generations. (1) Did being in such a position of prominence afford them superior care to account for this windfall?

Unpacking their individual causes of death in parallel with medical advancement is one way to provoke greater understanding.

Being alive when we didn’t know how disease spread, sadly, sealed Washington’s fate.

Washington is a perfect example of how evolution of standard of care could have saved his life. Though well-intended, his physicians could not have known then what we...

By Geoffrey Kabat

Originally published as Kabat, Geoffrey. “Who’s Afraid of Roundup?” Issues in Science and Technology 36, no. 1 (Fall 2019): 64–73. Reprinted with permission.

In May 2019, a California jury awarded $2 billion to a husband and wife who claimed that the weed-killer Roundup caused their non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The defendant in the suit was Bayer AG, which had recently acquired Monsanto, Roundup’s manufacturer.

Crucial in determining the judgment was Alameda County Superior Court judge Winifred Smith’s denial of a request by Bayer’s lawyers to share with the jury the US Environmental Protection Agency’s recent determination that the active ingredient in...

By treating risky behavior like a communicable disease, the public health establishment invites government to meddle in our private lives.

In the introduction to the first major American book on public health, U.S. Army surgeon John S. Billings explained the field's concerns: "Whatever can cause, or help to cause, discomfort, pain, sickness, death, vice, or crimeand whatever has a tendency to avert, destroy, or diminish such causesare matters of interest to the sanitarian; and the powers of science and the arts, great as they are, are taxed to the uttermost to afford even an approximate solution to the problems with which he is concerned."

Despite this ambitious...

To publish as you please?

On the health law platter for the Supremes next month is the State of Missouri et al. v. Biden et al. on appeal from the 5th Circuit, which addresses whether the federal government can rein in social media’s parade of contentious antivax and anti-mask COVID communications. Renamed Murthy v. Missouri for its sashay before the Supreme Court, the matter is billed as a free speech case,...

The Interstitium

About five years ago, there was an explosion of science reporting on a “newly discovered organ” called the interstitium. It’s a network of fluid-filled spaces surrounding tissues and organs. How new this is disputed since medical knowledge has known and educated physicians about interstitial fluid for a long time (certainly since before the article was published in 2018). Its status as an organ was also in dispute as that may have been more a product of public relations than the conclusions of the original article. However, while the authors responsibly represented their findings in the original article, the press was more willing to make outrageous connections and claims. There...

Searching for Who

There is no consensus over the diagnostic criteria for Long COVID; with over 200 symptoms and no clear biomarkers, how can you identify those with Long COVID? The NIH’s Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative is designed to answer that question, among others, and this week released its first data on the constellation of symptoms that might define Long COVID.

At this point in recruitment, RECOVER involves 9764 participants, stratified as having or not having COVID and enrolling within or after 30 days of a COVID diagnosis. A diagnosis of COVID was based on a positive PCR test, a rapid test that could be performed at home, or antibody evidence of exposure to COVID. Symptoms were elicited from these individuals six months...

1. Nature magazine covered our ranking of the good and bad science journalism sites last week, highlighting our concern that "Not only is it susceptible to the same sorts of biases that afflict regular journalism, but it is uniquely vulnerable to outrageous sensationalism”.

RealClearScience was even more blunt. “Much of science reporting is a morass of ideologically driven junk science, hyped research, or thick, technical jargon that almost no one can understand”.

2. The ...

Welcome to the conclusion of this two part series on the newest hot topics in melanoma research.  

In Tanorexia? The Latest Skinny on Melanoma, we debunked myths about who is at risk and addressed means of prevention along with rare, devastating forms.

I enlisted the help of three leading melanoma researchers from The Wistar Institute —our nation’s first independent biomedical research facility where I am a member of the leadership council.  Today, we focus on immunotherapy and the new frontier in the field of melanoma research and treatments.

Let’s continue the conversation with ...