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If there's any reason to doubt the veracity of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP) there is now more. The group lied about the results of a June debate on the cause of the opioid crisis. We caught it.

Can science inform the abortion debate?
Are you more likely to die from heat or cold?
Could it be that part of our institutional problem is bullshit jobs?
Ten things wrong about science reporting – I tried to avoid them all, not always successfully

My colleague Dr. Barbara Billaeur has written recently about the ethical dilemmas behind uterine transplantation in men transitioning into women. A new study updates us on uterine transplants in women, providing some answers to Dr. Bilauer’s concerns and baseline medical data. Unlike studies of sample populations, this reports on all uterine transplants that have been performed in the US.

Cato Institute's Dr. Jeffrey Singer (also an ACSH advisor) published an opinion piece in The Detroit News arguing that laws that restrict drug paraphernalia do more harm than good. "If states want to get serious about reducing the risk of harm from using illegal drugs, lawmakers should repeal their drug paraphernalia laws." We couldn't agree more. Harm reduction is one of the central tenets of ACSH.

Environmental Working Group has again claimed that chemicals in food and consumer products are contributing to obesity. They are mistaken, embarrassingly so.

In trying to make sense of the pandemic as new virus variants emerged and vaccines became available, we found that cyclical patterns don’t conform to seasons, deaths lag behind cases by varying degrees, cases and subsequent deaths vary by 10 to 15-fold, regional trends may shift, and case counts may be subject to reporting errors.  
How can we anticipate the future if we can’t understand the past? 

Scientific writing could use an English major
Which is worse, stupidity or malignant intent?
Hype and alarmism hype’s evil twin in today’s scientific enterprise.
A bright, refreshing wine with a bit of a smoky aftertaste – from the nearby wildfires.

The FDA just voted to approve a different Covid vaccine; this one based on one of the Omicron subvariants. But the decision was anything but simple. A look at the science.

ACSH advisor Dr. Robert Popovian's commentary on how biomedical innovation remains critically important, despite advances against the Covid pandemic.

To increase a product’s appeal to consumers, food manufacturers place food certification labels on the front of their packaging - concerned with environmental, animal welfare, or fair trade, and ‘free from’ labels for those with dietary restrictions. And what exactly do ‘natural’ or ‘clean’ labels tell us?

Is type 2 diabetes due largely to genetics? Does veganism lead to more weight loss than other common diets? On episode 9 of the Science Dispatch Podcast, we take a critical look at two studies, each tackling one of these intriguing questions.

Whole Foods Magazine recently published a story alleging that there is no evidence vindicating the safety of "GMOs." How well does this claim stand up to scrutiny?

It is that time of year when my poor dog cowers under the bed as the rocket's red glare of fireworks is seen and heard across the country. Perhaps I am stealing from my fellow writer and chemist, Dr. Bloom, but I just wanted to share what I had learned about the chemistry underlying all that color filling our skies.

As the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade took all of the oxygen out of the media greenroom, another SCOTUS decision on our healthcare, in this case, over insurance costs, was pretty much overlooked. That’s too bad because, in 2019, it involved slightly more than 6% of that budget – for individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

It is challenging to explain probabilities that go beyond the difference between the words, probabilities, and odds. [1] In fact, when we use words to describe numbers, it often increases the ambiguity of their meaning – something is lost between sender and receiver in the translation.

Has the FDA lost its mind or just the ability to use it? ACSH advisor Dr. Jeffrey Singer discusses banning of Juul e-cigarettes.

Nicotine is an addictive substance; it is THE addictive substance in tobacco, although tobacco’s combustion products are responsible for most of its adverse health effects. Nicotine has been in the news a lot between the plan to remove JUUL, a nicotine delivery system from the market, and the FDA proposal to require cigarettes to have lower nicotine levels. I asked myself a simple question for which I did not have a ready answer, what amount of nicotine is necessary to get you addicted – what dose makes the poison?

Last time, we discussed head transplants and how philosophers are gearing up to address the ethical implications. Many pages and scholarly brain waves were spent in the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy: A Forum for Bioethics and Philosophy of Medicine. What use were these ruminations? Are they valid considerations, even if the basic scientific premise is faulty? Or is this another example of asking how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? More importantly, what does this tell us about our capacity to resolve complex bioethical issues around new biotech?

The FDA has just effectively banned the most popular brand of e-cigarette products, encouraging many ex-smokers to restart their deadly habit.

A recent study examined the nutritional composition of meat and milk derived from gene-edited cattle bred to be hornless. The two-year-long project provided further evidence vindicating the safe use of biotechnology in food production.

Knowing our genetic structure is just the tip of understanding what makes us.
A public health victory in the time of COVID
The trees are talking to one another
For some, the gift of blood is more of a saleable commodity

Hillel was an ancient Jewish Talmudic scholar becoming the President of the Sanhedrin, the ancient Jewish “Supreme Court.” He was asked one day to teach a possible convert all of the Torah while the applicant stood on one leg. You can find what he said in the footnote [1]. My purpose in mentioning the story is only to introduce the idea that we can learn much from standing on one leg.

It’s summertime when we fire up our grills and move the cooking outdoors. Whether you use charcoal, propane, or wood as your fuel, scientists have linked the high-temperature cooking of meats to the formation of potential human carcinogens. This may cause some to pause and ask, “Are charred meats safe to eat?” While the long-term effects of consuming grilled meats remain debatable, some methods will help lower potential cancer-related compounds and improve the flavor and juiciness of your burnt offerings.

Food producers and manufacturers, both large and small, want to increase their products' appeal to today’s discerning consumer. One way to market is at the point-of-sale, providing trusted and attractive labels that speak to the buyer’s health, environmental, moral, and social concerns. Who controls food certification labels, what do they mean, and do they deliver as promised?

On episode 8 of the Science Dispatch Podcast, we examine recent claims about the efficacy of Paxlovid. Is the COVID-19 drug as effective as experts thought it'd be? We then debunk an Epoch Times story alleging that the weedkiller glyphosate is lurking in every corner, just waiting to poison you and your children.