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The shortage of Adderall, an important medication used to treat ADHD – attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder – is a story of supply, demand, the invisible hand of market forces. It’s also about a bureaucracy focused on regulation rather than outcome. It has all the hallmarks of the opioid crisis. We have learned nothing.

The spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections through many mammal species in the wild raises the specter of deer becoming a SARS-CoV-2 reservoir — a permanent home for the virus and a regular source of outbreaks in other animals, including humans.

Beethoven’s Hair
People vote with their feet
Repugnant transactions
All my brackets are busted bigtime

From the same folks who instigated the class action litigation over Zantac, we now have a new class action suit – this one claiming that dry shampoos contain dangerous levels of benzene, a known carcinogen.

The National Physician Residency Match pairs about-to-graduate medical students and some already graduated, to residency training programs, a necessary step in gaining a medical license. Physicians’ “Match madness” just ended, and self-congratulations and hand-wringing were found throughout the media.

A perceptive reader wrote, noting that I repeated a fictitious quotation of Francis Bacon. ChatGPT has been around for only a few months, and it seems I have already been fooled.

Twenty years ago, Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug wrote about agricultural biotechnology – its promise, importance, over-regulation, and the mindless opposition to it from activists. His words ring true today.

Time with your doctor is limited. Here are some ways to get the most out of your appointment and make your healthcare expenditure in time and money more cost-effective.

Social justice advocates continue to demand that professions like medicine become more "diverse." Critics contend this development could bring unqualified physicians into the profession and jeopardize public health. Should we be worried? The FDA wants to label certain foods in the grocery store "healthy." It's an awful idea.

Given the low mortality from slow-growing, localized prostate cancers and the side effects of many treatments, deciding whether to opt for monitoring or treatment can be excruciatingly difficult.

In order to prepare for the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 "variants of concern" or other epidemic coronaviruses, researchers are taking a variety of approaches to creating vaccines that will protect against not only known viruses but also against variants that have not yet appeared.

Artificial Intelligence plays an increasingly prominent role in modern life, medicine included. While the technology promises to improve health care in many ways, it also carries potentially serious risks. That raises a critical question: when AI harms patients, who's responsible?

What is it about humans that enables us to enjoy watching harm being inflicted on others? With the football season a few months away, perhaps a greater understanding of neurological harm associated with the game’s repetitive brain trauma is warranted.  And maybe we should do something rather than just sit by and watch?

Are we overlooking a critical factor in surgical site infections (SSIs)? In the quest for sterile operating rooms and antibiotic prophylaxis, a groundbreaking study suggests we've missed a vital piece of the puzzle: the patient's microbiome, a finding that challenges the wisdom of Semmelweis and may revolutionize infection prevention strategies.

Medical schools are incorporating critical social justice theory into the way they teach students to diagnose and treat health conditions. Cato scholars Jeffrey A. Singer and Erec Smith explain that this can be hazardous to the health of individuals – and to society.

Americans seem to have quite a positive view of dietary supplements. According to a 2023 survey, 74% of U.S. adults take vitamins, prebiotics and the like.
The business of supplements is booming, and with all the hype around them, it’s easy to forget what they actually are: substances that can powerfully affect the body and your health, yet aren’t regulated like drugs are. They’re regulated more like food.

The battle over formaldehyde has shifted. In a recent risk evaluation, the EPA significantly recognized that formaldehyde does not pose an “unreasonable” risk for cancer. But it does pose health risks for effects such as eye irritation, allergies, and asthma.

As High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza cases emerge in dairy cattle, transmission routes and the source of infection remain unclear. Before jumping to conclusions, what can science tell us?

Tinnitus – a vexing ringing in one or both of your ears not caused by external sound – impacts some 740 million adults globally. A recently FDA-approved treatment appears poised to help many of these patients reduce the severity of their symptoms and thereby boost their quality of life. Let's take a closer look at this therapy to find out how it works.

Introducing CBD (cannabidiol), the latest fad in the ever-expanding universe of pseudo-medicine! It's the "miracle" cure that's as easy to buy as a candy bar – and about as effective as wishing on a shooting star. Americans, denied effective pain medicine and desperate for relief from their aches and pains, are jumping on the CBD bandwagon faster than you can say "snake oil." But the truth about this so-called remedy is about to hit harder than a reality check at a fantasy convention.

For those few of you who don't know, April 8th is Dog Farting Awareness Day. If ACSH doesn't spread awareness of this vital event, our mission is sadly gone. But fear not. If this doesn't get us back on track, then nothing will.

In a recent New York Times essay, a professor of anesthesia and pain management recently protested the Drug Enforcement Administration's opioid manufacturing quotas and micromanagement of doctors treating their patients' pain. At a time when DEA S.W.A.T. teams frequently raid doctors' offices for "inappropriate" prescribing, the professor's essay demonstrated boldness. Unfortunately, the professor's reform proposals were much less bold.

The sleazy world of dietary supplements is hardly confined to the United States. In Japan, more than 100 people were sickened – and at least five died – after consuming a ridiculous product called Benikoji Choleste, aka red rice yeast. How can such a dangerous supplement be sold? The following should sound quite familiar.

The standard argument for restricting patient access to pain medications is that these drugs frequently lead to addiction. A large body of research contradicts that claim, though it's doubly absurd when directed at people afflicted by terminal (and often very painful) illnesses. They sometimes have only weeks or months to live, yet they're denied pain medicine in the name of fighting opioid dependence. Such absurdity has to stop.

Welcome to "What I Am Reading" - a quick mention of intriguing articles, from the safety of decaf coffee to historical echoes of the opioid crisis, an argument for plagiarism, and something data brokers know.