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A new study of associations between incident dementia and air pollution caught my attention because air pollution studies like this have been driving me toward dementia for decades. Let’s unpack their findings.

The consumption of raw oysters is being discouraged in the New York area, thanks to the appearance of Vibrio vulnificus, aka, the flesh-eating bacteria. Although Vibriosis is (thankfully) very rare, it can also be very serious, even deadly. The exceptionally warm ocean temperatures this summer have allowed the bacteria to spread northward, where there has been one confirmed death from raw oysters and two others from skin infections. Is there anything to worry about here?

If alien life does not resemble ET or the Lead Alien in the eponymous movie, how will we recognize them once we meet? Assembly theory may offer a clue.

Greenpeace's longstanding, unwarranted, and vicious opposition to vitamin A-fortified rice has led to tens of thousands of deaths.

According to the Affordable Care Act, anyone needing emergency care is entitled to treatment. In 1985, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) was enacted to provide federal protection. Even so, insurers have tried to get around covering emergency services. The federal government has now muscled up, suing insurers for denying emergency coverage.

"[A] censorious report on National Public Radio, citing a poll, accuses Republican voters of being content to 'do nothing' about climate change. In fact, neither party proposes to do anything about climate change. Democrats propose to spend a lot more money doing nothing.” – Holman Jenkins, Wall Street Journal

"Painkiller" is a textbook example of a show clearly meant to sway public perceptions on a critical public health issue — even if that means lying to viewers along the way.

A new study suggests that 25% of “marginalized” patients – Black, Hispanic, or insured by Medicaid – were “jumped over” by the less ill, or those arriving later in emergency departments. Are these disparities the result of the social construct of race? Could it be a “racism or classism” of institutions or personnel? Or could the term disparity be used to by authors to jump the publication line – to sooner rather than later?

“Policymakers embrace the neat, plausible, and wrong explanation for the overdose crisis because it is easier than accepting the inconvenient truth.”

On July 20, the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the principal trade association for the chemical industry in the U.S., sued the EPA and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) over the EPA’s 2022 draft IRIS Assessment on Formaldehyde. Lawsuits against the EPA are not unique, but those including NASEM are another story.

Overdose prevention centers have been saving lives in much of the developed world for more than 35 years. Yet an archaic federal statute blocks them in this country.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer's (IARC) conclusion that the sweetener aspartame "possibly" causes cancer is ... definitely stupid. Meanwhile, you can eat a diet consisting of 91 percent "ultra-processed" food and be healthy. So says a new study. Let's take a closer look.

β‐Hydroxy‐β‐methylbutyrate, aka, HMB, is a very safe supplement used to build muscle. But a group has recently demonstrated that HMB may also have properties to mitigate the symptoms of Alzheimer's in mouse models of AD. Could this be a useful drug in protecting the brains from the ravages of this awful disease?

A recent article in USA Today proclaimed that we are *this* far away from no longer having working antibiotics, a cataclysmic development that would pose "an existential threat for modern medicine." Is this really true? Let's ask Dr. David Shlaes, one of the foremost experts in the world of antimicrobial science.

Good dental hygiene is extremely important to overall health. Even simple and inexpensive interventions, such as brushing, flossing and chewing sugar-free gum, can be highly effective.

A synthetic embryo can now be constructed from very early pre-embryonic cells – without the need for an egg or sperm. These were initially created in mice. In April, Chinese researchers created synthetic monkey embryos. Last month, the first synthetic human models were reportedly created. This development throws a moral monkey-wrench into the current moratoria on embryonic research after 14 days. But there are more problems ahead.

COVID-19 has drifted away from public view, and current outcome rates have been submerged into statistical noise. So it seems to be a good time to tote up where we have been, and the total impacts on public health.

Blowing out candles on a birthday cake. Blah! You'd think this wretched ritual would have disappeared long ago, especially once Covid made its appearance. But people are still doing it. Furthermore, the science to determine whether this practice can make you sick is faulty. Have a strong stomach.

The courts have found that FDA's tobacco policies are arbitrary and capricious. The medical community calls them unscientific and harmful.

There are upticks in early indicators of a COVID surge, including hospitalizations, test positivity, and SARS-CoV-2 concentrations in wastewater. And a new Omicron subvariant is rapidly gaining in prevalence. We need to prepare.

Chatbots’ ease of use and ability to rapidly create human-like text, including everything from reports, essays, and recipes to computer code, ensure that the AI revolution will be a powerful tool for students at every level to improve their capabilities and expertise. The list of apps and services is growing longer every day. But, like most powerful technologies, the use of chatbots offers challenges as well as opportunities. We need strategies to minimize the former and accentuate the latter.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that Affirmative Action in university admissions is discriminatory and unconstitutional. Compulsory Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statements in applications for university faculty positions and graduate school admissions should soon follow.

In a recent article in the New York Times about fraud in the dietary supplement industry, Rina Raphael recognized ACSH's work in the field by quoting Josh Bloom, the director of chemical and pharmaceutical science. We all thank Ms. Raphael for using ACSH as a resource.

Some have decided it's over and heralded the end of the pandemic; others say they are not sure. The answer to this recurring question requires a few definitions and statistical regressions.

Although COVID-19 is giving us a temporary respite, influenza in humans and animals remains a serious threat. Its deadly H5N1 strain is spreading geographically and in more species of mammals, making the emergence of a pandemic strain more likely. We need to prepare.