Policy & Ethics

Attorney General Jeff Sessions opened his mouth last week and made a fool out of himself. His suggestion that people in pain should "have an aspirin and tough it out" was insensitive, ignorant, and insulting. People who live with pain were furious. They have every right to be.
The FDA has proposed new rules for homeopathic product labeling. Do these constitute a historic strategy to tame the homeopathic marketplace? Or will they merely perpetuate the status quo. Homeopathy is nonsense. Its fanciful "law of similars" asserts that substances that can cause symptoms in healthy people will treat health problems that produce such symptoms. Its fanciful "law of infinitesimals" asserts that the greater the dilution, the more potent the product and that even products so dilute that they contain no molecules of the original ingredient can be potent drugs.
The highly unconventional, unregulated trials of Theravax herpes vaccine were very big news. That's especially true after its inventor, the late Dr. Bill Halford, MD, used the vaccine in people without pre-approval of an institutional review board. Critics abounded, but few wanted to know if the vaccine actually worked. One participant spoke with us about his experience. 
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb condemned the use of kratom, which is a plant-based mixture of chemical compounds, some of which are opioids. The evidence is strong that kratom does contain multiple opioid drugs – and therefore carries with it some risk. But those who use it to treat pain are adamant about needing it. Who's right? Maybe both sides. 
A Florida orthopedic surgeon charged with possession and distribution of an analog of fentanyl called furanylfentanyl, which resulted in the death of a young woman, has had his trial postponed until April. 
As if there aren't enough ridiculous things to study – and worry about. A group in Great Britain thinks that sandwiches are causing the Earth to warm. Now there's a baloney sandwich – if there ever was one.
In what's become an eagerly anticipated tradition, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists warns us that we're all moments away from annihilation. The international media uncritically reports this nonsense, even though the Doomsday Clock has been around since 1947. Yet we're still here. Guess there's something wrong with the clock.
Dangerous fentanyl is now part of the emotionally-charged, lethal injection controversy. This has erupted because Nevada wants to combine it with Valium to execute a twice-convicted murderer. Opinions abound. See who's right and who is wrong.
Government is transparent. That is, if you can cut your way through the jungle of bureaucracy. Competitive Enterprise Institute discovered that radical environmental groups are paying the salaries and expenses of staffers in the office of Washington State Governor, Jay Inslee.
It is immoral and reckless to leave drugs within the reach of children. That five kids were poisoned makes grandpa, who had a medical marijuana prescription, an irresponsible pothead.
There are those who believe that Ph.D's are still useful. Others might agree -- but with this gigantic caveat: It's only useful to those who are 100% certain that a life at the research bench is what they want to do.
If the poor are really at risk because hospitals will be shut down due to lack of funding, the worst thing that the Empire State can do is add costs to health care. But that's exactly what Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently did with his budget proposal.