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September began with concerns about increasing COVID-19 cases and deaths across the nation, ending as new cases reached a plateau. These trends are consistent with nationwide spreading of the Delta virus variant. The future depends on interactions of vaccination reluctance with the virulent Delta variant and with a potential repeat of the previous winter peak. Is relief in sight? Are COVID-19 rates comparable to seasonal influenza rates as a reasonable goal?

When it comes to media and scientific reporting, the B cells have gotten most of the attention – it makes sense, they produce the antibodies in our first wave of defense against COVID-19. But the T cells have a significant role to play and have been disrespected. It is time to give our T-cell mediated immunity a little love.

The title here refers to a saying among surgeons. It applies not only to our reputation, how others view us but to how we view ourselves, at least for a little while. A new study suggests that the sentiment behind the saying also influences our subsequent few medical decisions.

Cooking has always been chemistry you can eat, the murmurations of swallows, Capitalism, the commons, and China, and a movie about moths but not Mothra

Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA is the exception, not the rule. Except for COVID therapies. Three vaccines and one drug have EUA in the US. Merck is now seeking EUA for its antiviral drug molnupiravir. Should it be granted?

In March, President Biden fired 40 independent, external science advisors at the Environmental Protection Agency. A president had never done that. He replaced them with researchers – many of whom receive, or are involved in research that receives, millions of taxpayer dollars from EPA grants. This act epitomizes the politicization of an executive agency.

A friendly exchange between a former vaccine skeptic and a University of Florida scientist illustrates how we can get more people immunized, during the pandemic and beyond.

As debate rages over the legal basis for Biden’s vaccine mandate, don’t look for guidance in the lay press. It’s all over the place – and, unsurprisingly, without backup or explanation

With the school year underway, teacher vaccine mandates, and mask mandates in partial or full effect, have we made our children safer? That we cannot say, at least as yet, but a new study can tell us something about how COVID-19 can and does spread.

We visit the dentist almost as much as we see physicians. But insurance coverage for dental care for many of us is non-existent. Congress is quietly, to this point, thinking of changing that situation.

Some vaccines are one-and-done, like measles. Others are annual events, like the seasonal flu. There's new data as to where on that spectrum the COVID-19 vaccine lies.

On September 9th, President Biden announced his three-pronged vaccine mandate. The first two, addressing workers employed by the federal government and employees of hospitals and health care facilities funded by the federal government, are legal no-brainers such that even Libertarians aren’t putting up much of a fight. It’s the third prong that gives pause.

Dr. David Shlaes has been following the various discussions around the development of rapid diagnostic tests for acute bacterial infections. The ACSH advisor has concluded that broad-spectrum empiric therapy of potentially serious infections in the hospital will continue – and well it should – regardless of the availability of such rapid tests.

A new wave of lawsuits alleges that the weedkiller paraquat causes Parkinson's Disease. The evidence continues to undermine this claim.

The process of respiration – converting oxygen to carbon dioxide and energy – is what life is all about. This metabolic process, which humans and animals must do to live, changes the environment when we inhale air and release our breath back into the world. How does COVID-19 fit into this?

These local markets are the revival tents of fresh food seekers, part of the “buy-local-eat-healthy” movement, offering personal interactions between growers and consumers. But this dirt-to-dinner arrangement presents food safety issues and handling challenges for growers, small food businesses, and consumers.

Being an inspector for Michelin, the origins of the CT scan, the hygiene hypothesis appears as a call for biodiversity, the politics of writing about science in the age of COVID

A new report from a Congressional subcommittee concludes "that commercial baby foods contain dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium." While these products inevitably contain tiny quantities of these heavy metals, which are ubiquitous in nature, baby foods generally pose minimal risk to young children.

It's intuitive that a robust immune response to COVID-19 will result in a less severe, even asymptomatic infection. A new study puts some numbers to the term "robust."

Statins, which are used in treating heart disease, are among the most widely prescribed medications in the U.S. Diabetes is associated with a very high risk of heart disease. So the thinking has been that a pre-emptive statin, before heart symptoms appear, would be beneficial for those patients. But statins accelerate the progression of diabetes. A new study tries to determine their downsides.

The Veteran Administration's "Opioid Safety Initiative" – as fine an example of doublespeak as you'll see – succeeded in reducing opioid prescriptions by 64% in less than a decade. That's just fine if you're prepared to accept the accompanying 75% increase in rural veteran suicides. Drs. Jeffrey Singer and Josh Bloom are not. Here's their opinion piece in The Virginian-Pilot.

The other week, our Dr. Bloom tooted out an article on the gaseous composition of flatulence, or farts. Just a week later, an academic meeting of gastroenterologists took up the same issue. Time for a scientific update!

The anti-GMO movement is gradually campaigning itself into irrelevance. Unfortunately, this positive trend has been slowed by public universities that pay activists exorbitant speaking fees to promote their questionable ideas. This is but one example of taxpayers subsidizing ideological advocacy with potentially serious consequences.

The following is a compendium of articles and op-eds I have written since 2013. It is an updated version of "Analyzing The Opioid Crisis: 65 Articles By Dr. Josh Bloom," which was published in 2019.

YouTube announced last week that it's banning a number of high-profile anti-vaccine activists from its platform. The policy shift is meant to stem the spread of misinformation, but it raises some troubling questions. Most important among them: is more censorship worth the cost it imposes on society?