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As a relative newbie to the world of science writing to the public, I want to thank ACSH for letting me write about my favorite subject – science and health. Two articles from the last year have special meaning to me.

4-ANPP is not a term that most of you know but it's hugely important. It is the chemical that is the precursor to fentanyl. Although 4-ANPP is not an opioid, there is not a single thing anyone would do with it except convert it to fentanyl. And there is plenty of 4-ANPP to be had now the bad guys use synthetic organic chemistry to make it.

"Vapes DON'T help people quit smoking normal cigarettes," the headlines blared this week, based on the results of another awful study. Let's examine the critical details most reporters overlooked.

It appears to defy logic that naloxone, the antidote for opioid overdoses, isn't available on demand. After all, it's a lifesaving drug with no potential for abuse. But it's not so simple, as Dr. Jeffrey Singer explains.

A recent study found that marijuana smoke may cause emphysema. The problem? The study was complete garbage. Celebrities and social-media "influencers" are hyping the weight-loss benefits of repurposed diabetes drugs. Should these medicines really be used to slim down? It's complicated.

Last year around Christmas, I wrote an article about mistletoe, a not-very-poisonous plant associated with the holiday. I am fascinated that so many plants related to the holiday have toxic elements. I’ve included a couple of highly poisonous plants, belladonna, and hemlock, that appear in some of the greatest literary works and my favorite mysteries.  

The Washington Post just published a sweeping 6000-word investigative article about multiple aspects of the fentanyl epidemic. Although the piece gives a very thorough account of multiple facets of our losing battle with illicit fentanyl, it is unfortunate that the authors could not spare a few words to discuss the root cause of the fentanyl plague – the relentless war on prescription painkillers—a perfect example of the Iron Law of Prohibition.

Amazon decides to provide healthcare
Scientific uncertainty
The cultural impact of the Crock Pot
Being our healthcare brother’s keeper

Getting an appointment to see your doctor is, often, only part of the battle. Although telemedicine has reduced the overall need, for many, we still have the need and expense of getting to your doctor’s office.  Leaving aside the time and money lost in transit, there are real costs for transportation, especially if you are seeing physicians frequently, e.g., undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

To reduce your risk of a cardiovascular “event,” your doctor will always recommend maintaining a healthy diet and exercise. But how much does a healthy diet actually contribute to risk reduction; is it worth giving up all the “bad” foods that taste so good? A new study tries to find an answer.

Ho, Ho, Ho, etc., etc., etc. Kris Kringle, here, reporting on the State of SCE (Santa Claus Enterprises), including its subsidiaries, KKW (Kris Kringle’s Workshop), the Rudolf’s Bar and Gym Group, and Super Stocking Stuffers, sold exclusively on-circle to our subscribers. 

As the world experiences more extreme local temperatures, both high and low, scientists wondered whether heat or cold, along with the usual suspected environmental pollutants, was a more significant cause of cardiovascular deaths. Care to guess which it might be?

You would think this is an easily determined answer. As usual, it is complicated. So many factors to consider.

Those who are not researchers may have wondered how human research is regulated, how research subjects are protected, and how we ensure research is done correctly. Those who do human research know only too well: the Institutional Review Board.

Everett Koop was a man of morals. A religious man who read the bible. He was also a man of science. He got his job through politics. Yet he knew how to keep these forces separate. Nowhere was this more apparent than in his pushback against political pressures to oppose abortion on health grounds and to educate the populace on AIDS and against tobacco use.

About a decade ago, many tears were shed over J&J’s baby shampoo, not by the babies, but by consumer groups trumpeting the latest chemophobia – formaldehyde, a known “human carcinogen.”

What does formaldehyde in baby shampoo have to do with a recent recall of a specialized laundry detergent? The failure to appreciate the need for preservatives in consumer products.  

A ferocious debate ensued over Emily Oster's recent call in The Atlantic for COVID "amnesty." Everybody in the dispute is wrong. Should you drink Smart Water? Only if you're dumb, says our resident chemist.

Processed foods continue to get a bad rap
Geofencing January 6th Goes to Court
Zero COVID and Immune debt – Is China paying up?
And now, Dad Brain

Last week a study reported that according to a meta-analysis, cannabis was no better than a placebo in the treatment of pain. As you would expect, that study generated some headlines, but almost uniformly, the media buried the last paragraphs about their role in generating expectations.

Upper respiratory infections have a seasonality; winter is their thing. The role of the changing temperature and humidity, in some entangled manner, contributes to the winter increases. But what is the role of one of our first barriers to those invading microbes, the nose?

Those who run the CDC and DEA have blood on their hands. No reasonable person can deny that the catastrophic crackdown on medical opioids has resulted in far more deaths than it saved. That’s because both patients and addicts are forced to turn to street drugs, and they end up dying from illicit fentanyl. But as ACSH Advisor Dr. Jeffrey Singer writes in Reason Magazine, there’s another harm that’s barely discussed: Suicides by those denied pain medications are becoming increasingly common.

Restaurants provide more than food and drink; they serve a social function, allowing friends to get together over a shared meal. Although as we age, ambient sound may make hearing one another increasingly difficult in this setting. Welcome to the Lombard Effect.

The recipe for good public health policy is like a souffle- simple ingredients combined in a complex manner. Done well - it’s a delight. Heavy-handed, using sour (outdated) ingredients – it’s a mess, even toxic.

Private equity, those that Tom Wolfe described in the Bonfire of the Vanities as “Masters of the Universe,” continue to purchase medical practices. It creates a market force whose primary interest is the balance sheet’s bottom line. Let the patient beware.