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Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of the topics I have covered this past year.
[apologies to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II]

The week between Christmas and the New Year has traditionally been a time of reflection on the past year. I joined the writing staff of the American Council on Science and Health at the beginning of 2023. As I look back over 100+ articles, ranging from “Holiday Heart” to Sickle Cell Disease, and from advances in science and health to shortcomings in communicating developments in public health, here are a few of my favorites.

My favorites of 2023, poor taste included.

Yours truly, Kris Kringle, has been informed that my fans are truly miffed because they haven’t seen me around lately. Truth be told, I am hiding out from the paparazzi, an occupational hazard of all the great and famous. But because you, my loyal ACSH fans, deserve to know. Truth be told, I am being sued.

For about a year, KinderFarms has been marketing a “non-toxic” pain and fever reliever for kids – except it’s really not non-toxic. What supposedly makes this medicine “safe” is the absence of “chemical preservatives.” Too bad. Had KinderFarms co-founder actress Jessica Biel put preservatives in her product, it might have been safer for us – and for her company’s bottom line.

In this radio interview, Lars Larson and I discussed overeating and over-imbibing during the holidays, particularly focusing on the phenomenon known as "Holiday Heart Syndrome."

Overindulging during holiday festivities can cause more than heartburn. You could end up in the emergency room. Prevention is the best course.

Food loss and waste is a global concern. 30 to 40% of our annual production, 80 billion pounds of food, are wasted annually, or, in more human terms, 242 pounds per person. 22% of our landfills are filled with wasted food. A new study examines the intersection of environmental concerns and meat-related food loss.

Just in time for Christmas – Toxic Christmas Trees?
Vanilla
A child’s view of factory farms
What is nuclear power worth to you?

Reflecting their baseless antagonism towards COVID vaccines, the state's legislature, governor, and attorney general have made decisions that will have deadly consequences for many Texans.

Most respiratory viral diseases, like influenza, take their greatest toll on the ends of the lifespan, the frail elderly, and the not-quite-as-frail infants and toddlers. But COVID was different and had little impact on the mortality of the very young. A new study sheds some light on why.

This past week, Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health hosted a webinar on the putative dangers of ultra-processed foods (UPF). Let me share my recap.

Here's the premise: social justice and equitable care increasingly require that those individuals providing your healthcare look like you and share your lived experience. To that end, medical schools have fashioned (or refashioned) their mission statements to explicitly call for diversity in their student bodies. But as a new study shows, words and intentions are not sufficient.

Jerry Rogers, the editor of both RealClearHealth.com and RealClearPolicy.com, moderated a discussion with several experts [1], including me, on various aspects of vaccines.

The DEA recently added six "new" synthetic cannabinoids to its Schedule I list of illegal drugs (aka Spice, K2, bath salts). Has doing this ever worked in the past? No. Will it work now? Of course not. There are plenty of reasons. Here are some of them. Plus, here's another Dreaded Chemistry Lesson from Hell for all you masochists.

The blockbuster weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic have helped many patients rapidly slim down. But these powerful pharmaceuticals could have unintended consequences we may not be ready for. Meanwhile, what motivates people to wear masks? Post COVID, researchers are finally beginning to find some answers.

Even as cigarette manufacturers can no longer escape liability for addiction-inducing practices, social media (SM) companies hide behind the First Amendment and The Communications Decency Act (CDA) to protect themselves. A recent case dents this shield. But the decision still protects some SM activities - even those allegedly engendering addictions in teens. I disagree with the Court’s reasoning. Here’s why.

From 1839 to 1842, the British attacked China over the Chinese government's decision to ban opium. The French joined the fray between 1856 and 1860. The military superiority of the Western powers resulted in the legalization of opium in China. Karma – in the form of China's payback to the Western powers – is a bitch.

Listicles are articles consisting of lists. It is indeed the listicle season.
Listicle #1 - Learning never ends.
United Healthcare is no longer an insurance company; it delivers healthcare
Listicle #2 – Useful Principles
Plain vanilla

Methadone has been known to be an effective treatment for opioid addiction and dependency since the 1960s. Unfortunately, in this country, since 1972, the federal government segregates people with opioid use disorder from people with other health conditions that doctors treat in their offices by requiring them to travel miles each day to take a daily dose of methadone at government-approved clinics. Congress may soon undertake the first serious reform in how people get methadone in more than a half-century.

The New York Times recently summarized an article from the prestigious journal Science, claiming that 460,000 fewer Medicare deaths since 1999 could be attributed to reduced emissions from 138 coal-fired power plants.

This past month, Stanford Medicine posted the following press release headline: “A Stanford Medicine-led trial of identical twins comparing vegan and omnivore diets found that a vegan diet improves overall cardiovascular health.”

A vacation is a tough time to get sick or hurt. It's even tougher when you might have a perfectly legitimate need for a controlled substance, but can't get it from any urgent care facility. The result? Instead of getting an effective drug for what ails you you get tossed out with something nearly worthless. This just happened to my wife. Here's the story. It's infuriating.

This year the American Council on Science Health turned 45. That's a long time for a non-profit to be around. But ACSH has persevered because we continue to offer something no other organization provides: quick and easy-to-read, always factual – and thorough – science.

The Uniform Law Commission is an aggregation of 350 state-appointed commissioners who provide “states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.” In 1980, it drafted the medico-legal criteria for death, which were adopted by most states. In July, the Commission failed to reach a consensus on how to update a 43-year-old legal standard.