Search results

On November 30, 2023, the EPA announced its new rule on lead in drinking water, calling for the complete removal of lead pipes within 10 years. Although the new drinking water rule represents a step forward, childhood lead exposure remains, primarily from lead in existing paint in older houses.

U.S. public health officials and the public are underestimating the current threat of the COVID pandemic and failing to take even minimal precautions. We are already seeing the consequences – a surge of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.

It's just another day when the ingredients on the label of a dietary supplement don't match the contents. But now, given the gummie craze children are more and more likely to mistake melatonin gummies for candy. A study by Harvard's Dr. Pieter Cohen examined the actual vs. claimed doses of melatonin found in 25 online products. The results are horrifying – but not surprising.

Just as the sun rises and sets, it's inevitable that the New Year comes with resolutions to be more active and to finally lose those pounds, holiday or otherwise. This year, social media is talking about "sequential meals" – the “natural” form of semaglutide (i.e., Wegovy).

The climate is changing while concerns about air pollution linger on.

Research to find a vaccine to prevent norovirus infection has been going on forever, with little to show for it. But a new study uses a novel approach with llama-derived (yes, you read that correctly) antibodies called nanobodies. I hope they get over the "hump." (1)

More than a third of patients with cancer report experiencing "moderate-to-severe cancer-related pain;” 40% of these patients experience “breakthrough pain” on their pain regimens. Opioid analgesics remain the mainstay for the treatment of moderate-to-severe cancer-associated pain. There is a new meta-analysis concerning opioid efficacy in this setting.
Buckle up; it's going to be a rough night.

Science speaks on behalf of the Radium Girls
Fun Facts 2023
Geometry as art
Data Leakage, Oh My!

We should discontinue all the useless subsidies for renewables and EVs, redirect a small portion toward accelerating small-scale nuclear plants, and allocate the substantial remainder to “guns” to cope with an increasingly dangerous world.

A small, but well-conducted, study of the effect of CBD oil on bad toothaches neither proves nor disproves whether the drug works. However, some intriguing data could be confirmed in a larger clinical trial. Let's call this mildly encouraging. At best.

“Let food be thy medicine, let medicine be thee food” – Hippocrates. That ancient wisdom, in an era where our dietary choices impact metabolic disorders, specifically Type II diabetes, has spawned an interest in food-as-medicine programs. A new study suggests that Hippocrates might have been overselling his dictum.

Interest in our evolving understanding of the interstitium has led proponents of alternative medicine to take a victory lap. However, the evidence for these modalities (i.e., chiropractic, osteopathic manipulation, and Rolfing’s structural integration) remains unchanged and still unconvincing.

Like many creatives, life experiences influence my work, in this case, my writing.  This year, the dominant emotion was stress (and adventure), which leached into my articles and drove some of the focus.

Just before Christmas, the FDA approved a new tool in the government’s unrelenting and largely unsuccessful battle on opioid abuse. The tool screens for a genetic susceptibility to opioid use disorder (OUD).

The advances in medical practice since World War II have been stunning, and they continue apace. Some of the existing and anticipated ones are discussed here and in Part 2.

The flawed concept of banning drugs inevitably leads to the appearance of new and worse drugs. Now a class of synthetic opioids called nitazenes, some of which are far more potent than fentanyl, are making their way into the supply of street drugs.

Environmental activists rely on several go-to tactics when fomenting fear of pesticides. One of their favorite methods is recruiting fake whistleblowers – often retired government scientists – who will spread conspiratorial nonsense about regulatory agencies and other researchers. Here's a real-world example of the "phony whistleblower gambit."

Ignoring science at the risk of the next generation – water distribution of the Colorado
Elite Universities are just cartels.
Where’s the beef?
Where’s the chicken?

Since 2020, we have been able to buy Advil Dual Action, OTC pills that contain a fixed dose of acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil). Who benefits from combining two medicines into one pill? Is it patients – or GSK that makes the product? I maintain it's the latter.

The pandemic has been with us for nearly four years, and while it is down, it is not yet out. Reactions to it varied across the nation, and looking back now to see how we have dealt with it seems appropriate.

Inevitably, there will be disruptions on airline flights due to unruly passengers. On rare occasions, passengers will need to assist the flight attendants in subduing a violent passenger. They should be prepared.

Unlike many colleagues, I did not come from a “medical” family. In my formative years, my father sold appliances and later real estate – he was flipping homes long before it became fashionable or lucrative. In any event, I think watching him sell and going for our Saturday outing to an open house gave me a slightly different view of communication with patients. Like those presidential candidates making the rounds in Iowa, medical communication is all about retail sales.

In 2019, I joined ACSH's contributing writers group because I admire the mission, and sought an outlet for some long-held dilemmas concerning the health effects of air pollution. Since then, my interests, along with those of my long-time colleague Sheldon Lipsky, have morphed along three tracks: air pollution, climate change, and original research on COVID-19. Here are a few articles on those topics.

Over the last 12 months, I continued with my preoccupation over EPA’s misrepresentation of the science in its treatment of PFAS, the “Forever Chemicals.” But Fluoride and Dutch Innovation also caught my fancy.

And here’s a soundoff of my favorite articles of the last year.