Search results

"... [I]nfluenza A, SARS-CoV-2, endemic coronaviruses, RSV, and many other 'common cold' viruses ... have not to date been effectively controlled by licensed or experimental vaccines." So wrote Dr. Tony Fauci, former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. What can policymakers learn from this controversial analysis? California is poised to ban five commonly used chemicals under the guise of protecting children. There's no science to justify the legislation.

The stakes are literally life and death. More than 100,000 patients are on the national transplant list, awaiting organ transplants, with thousands needlessly dying before receiving them. For now, a single nonprofit, The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), is the sole organization responsible for matching organ recipients with donors. Last year the 42,888 organ transplants performed were just not enough.

The agency's primary functions are ensuring food safety, regulating tobacco products rationally, and expeditiously approving new drugs and medical devices. It's failing. Instead, we're getting increasingly complex organizational structures and the commissioning of endless reports.

​​​​​​​“Today we are asked to declare war on a domestic enemy which threatens the strength of our nation and the welfare of our people. This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America.”
– Lyndon Johnson, 36th U.S. President, Inaugural Address

Another view of peer review
Automating the lawyers
As I grow old, I jettison the unnecessary
Sleep is not just for humans and other living creatures

Bumble bees are prolific pollinators, vital in creating the crops we eat. A new study shows how co-evolution between the bees and the plants can reduce the deaths of bumble bees.

Entasis Scores! The FDA's anti-infectives advisory board unanimously recommended approval of Entasis sulbactam-durlobactam for the treatment of hospital and ventilator-acquired pneumonia, caused by resistant strains of Acinetobacter. Wonderful news. But will the company survive?

Lost in the debate over how Medicare will negotiate drug prices, there's a concern by federal agencies about a metric used in determining a drug’s value. It's known as the Quality-Adjusted Life Year. There's bipartisan agreement in not using the term QALY, and “not even Medicare officials have signaled they want to use that approach.” What exactly are they talking about?

As plant-based diets gain more traction, the vegan population, especially in high-income countries, is rising. Is veganism – avoiding products produced by, or from, animals – a healthy lifestyle? (Spoiler Alert: you already know the answer. Vegans, like the rest of us, have varying lifestyles, some of which are not as good as others.)

Former President Trump said, “we have learned to live with it [COVID-19], just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!” before he recanted that statement with Bob Woodward, saying he knew it was "more deadly than even your strenuous flu." The morbidity and mortality of COVID have indeed changed over time; a recent study helps define whether COVID is becoming a new seasonal influenza.

The mind-body problem is fake science
Zombie pathogens have taken over my brain
There is more to figs than the Newton
Superstition, Enthusiasm, and Politics

There is nothing better than a crisp, crunchy, dare I add, slightly burnt pretzel – whole or in pieces. Add a bit of mustard, and we are set for the day. It is National Pretzel Day, time for a few pretzel factoids.

Once a medical device is brought to market, FDA surveillance of its safety continues. “To facilitate incremental improvements in safety and effectiveness, the FDA allows manufacturers to modify previously approved devices.” Only a few of those modifications require additional clinical testing. How often are those modified devices recalled? Is there cause for concern?

The Chicken Economy
Ode to an IBM Selectric
Can a patient advocate make a difference?
Do plants think?

Kimchi, initially a household staple of Korea, has increasingly found its complex flavors of vegetables, garlic, ginger, and fish sauce being accepted as a global star. Long before refrigeration, fermented foods were a winter staple. A new study looks at the physics underlying the of making Kimchi.

The EPA recently completed a draft health assessment on Chromium-VI that is causing controversy in the scientific community because it concludes that Chromium-VI is likely to cause cancer through drinking water. This conclusion is at odds with EPA’s previous assessments, much of the scientific literature, and assessments by other countries, including Canada.

Once a touchy-feely, consciousness-raising New Age experience, it's now an occasion for environmental activists to prophesy apocalypse, dish antitechnology dirt, and allow passion and zeal to trump reality.

Johnson & Johnson is working on a drug to repair liver damage caused by Tylenol, which has made the company billions since it was launched in 1955. Isn't this a bit like having a dentist's office in the back of a candy store?

Lost in the discussion of the alleged danger of opioid medications is that most of them also contain acetaminophen (Tylenol). Although acetaminophen is generally seen as benign, it is not. Here is what happened when the FDA cut the maximum acetaminophen dose to 325 mg. You may be surprised.

Traditionalism, a synonym for conservatism, is defined as “the tendency to embrace what are perceived to be the longstanding norms and values of one’s group, while rejecting changes to them.” During COVID, much of the writing on human behavior revolved around the actions of the conservatives vs. liberals. An anthropologic study looks at the role of traditionalism during COVID more globally.

On January 11, the CPSC issued a statement of concern about emissions from gas stoves while stating that it had no plans to ban them. Here are the comments I have submitted to the Commission during its public comment period. It’s time for the larger issue of indoor air pollution to get its due.

“Beef,” a new Netflix series, explores “two strangers whose lives collide after they incense each other during an incident of road rage.” Maybe those long-promised self-driving cars will help us become more polite, and road rage will be of only historical interest. A new study looks at when our rage surfaces behind the wheel.

“Our findings suggest that the αSyn-SAA technique is highly accurate at detecting the biomarker for Parkinson’s disease regardless of the clinical features," says Luis Concha, Ph.D., "making it possible to accurately diagnose the disease in patients at early stages.” For those in the Parkinson's Disease community, this is a big-deal, “game-changing” report.

The year saw breakthrough articles on highly successful treatments for sickle cell disease, β-thalassemia, rectal cancer, COVID-19, and malaria, and a terrific bionic pancreas for Type 1 diabetics.

King Charles III's longstanding opposition to genetic engineering is misguided and unconstructive. Genetic modification has long made products better, safer, and cheaper.