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So Chicago has followed in the footsteps of other cities — think Berkeley and Philadelphia — by levying a tax on sodas and other sweetened beverages. Even artificially sweetened ones. Do we think such taxes will benefit consumers' health? No, we do not. In fact, they may even fail to help municipalities' bottom lines, if past events are predictive.

The opioid crisis is at an all time high, with no sign of slowing down. What we are currently doing to stop the crisis is not working. One company has designed a product to help. It's an app that is easy to use, cheap, can be accessed by anyone with a phone, has been shown to help people during their recovery and just might make a difference. 

Hollywood will make no sequel to Erin Brockovich, nor will Pacific Gas & Electric be reimbursed $333 million. However, after nearly 20 years the truth about hexavalent chromium has finally been revealed by California regulators.

Dicamba is big news in 2017. It's easy to blame agriculture companies but what about farmers who used dicamba with their resistant plants knowing it drifts?

"Fake news" has become a meme — and it's all over the Internet. For example, take a look at a site that claims to provide real evidence that aspartame is carcinogenic in humans. Not only does it cite old data, it has picked a study whose authors don't agree with them. Can you get much more fake than that?

Proton pump inhibitors have some mild, treatable side effects. Other reported side effects, such as heart attacks, kidney disease, and dementia are sensationalist and based on weak evidence.

Over 1.5 million people have been infected with the Zika virus in the past two years and more than 2,200 babies born with Zika-related microcephaly. Numbers like that call for a clear understanding of how Zika virus is spread from person to person - something that we are still not totally sure about. 

The Environmental Working Group wants your money. And they're very good a getting it by scaring people about nothing. It should be no surprise that the group's latest fundraising letter is big on fears – but super small on science. Here's what we found.

Microbiologists have long known that the kitchen is an incredibly fertile field for bacterial growth — and a prime source is the kitchen sponge. A recent study of sponges found that even those that are "cleaned" by their users provide a soup of bacteria — some of which are pathogenic.

Given modern medical advances extending survival rates for chronic diseases, while at the same time overall life expectancy continues to lengthen, companies are diving into niche markets. Take, for example, Hormel — makers of Dinty Moore stews and Spam – which has come up with a meal line specifically targeted to cancer patients.

The New York Times smeared a company at the request of an organic food lobby. Instead of behaving like responsible, skeptical journalists they chose to act like a PR firm. Such is the state of affairs at America's self-appointed "Paper of Record."

Medicare Advantage, where insurance companies promise lower costs, better benefits, and — record-breaking profits. The secret sauce lies in upcoding, algorithmic denial of care, with a sprinkle of vertical integration.

In nursing homes that voluntarily imposed vaccination mandates on their staff, residents experienced a significant reduction in both COVID infections and mortality, while employee turnover was minimal.

Not long ago, people thought computers couldn’t communicate in English! Dr. Grace Hopper put that notion to rest. She also wrote the first computer manual. Trained in mathematics and mathematical physics, she was a computer scientist long before the profession existed, changing the paradigm of programming and setting the stage for large-language AI models. On the way, she became a Rear Admiral, widely recognized for her leadership abilities, wit, and wisdom.

Dive into tales of secretive stargazing, animal factories that save lives, and the immunological sleight-of-hand in pregnancy. Is Joe Rogan “mainstream media?”

Cows don’t typically get the flu. The recent H5N1 flu outbreak in U.S. dairy herds is a wake-up call, not just about the virus but about a federal system failing to protect our food supply.

From the eerie haze that choked London to the deadly fog that gripped Donora, Pennsylvania, these episodes have long been our cautionary tales of urban and industrial excesses. Wildfire smoke and modern pollution studies often come with alarming projections of imminent doom, yet they sidestep the grim specifics uncovered during these infamous historical episodes. Who were the victims? What happened to the survivors? Did the smog sentence them to early graves? Spoiler alert: not everything is as clear — or deadly — as it might seem.

Evidence suggests that at recommended levels, fluoridation is cost-effective and promotes public health. But, like any healthcare intervention, it must be scrutinized and adjusted as new data emerge.

Moral outrage — a timeless emotion that once fueled revolutions, but now powers your aunt’s conspiracy-laden Facebook rants. According to a study dissecting millions of social media posts, outrage doesn’t just thrive online; it turbocharges the spread of misinformation. We’re more likely to share first, fact-check never. Our collective anger isn’t unproductive, but can we avoid that dopamine hit when hitting that "anger" reaction button?

In the complicated world of hospital billing, there’s a fine line between maximizing reimbursement and gaming the system. A new study shows a troubling trend as hospitals increasingly code for “sicker” patients. Hospitals argue that it reflects more accurate patient care, but skeptics see a golden ticket to inflate revenue. As always, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Norovirus vaccines face significant hurdles, with virtually no success from past efforts from HilleVax and Vaxxart. But Moderna's mRNA-1403, now in Phase 3 trials, is based on the company's mRNA technology, which controlled the COVID pandemic. Will it work here? Keep a bucket handy, just in case.

Move over, influencers, there's a new trendsetter in town: the gut microbiome. This paper demonstrates that your social butterfly status isn't just reflected in your follower count. It's also mirrored in your gut, as social connections drive the spread of microbial strains beyond just family and household ties. So, the next time you swap spit with your bestie, remember you're not just sharing gossip. You're also exchanging a microbial souvenir.

This week’s reading is a kaleidoscope of corporate shenanigans, technological detachment, and battles we never thought we’d fight—against weeds and algorithms. From Spirit Airlines’ golden parachute for a CEO amid bankruptcy to Nicholas Carr’s critique of how vertical screens are reframing our lives, the threads connecting them are power, perspective, and survival.

Two cases before the Supreme Court stripped agencies like the FDA, CDC, and NOAA of the leeway to make expert-driven calls on ambiguous laws. The shift, though, is less about legal refinement and more about the politics of control. If you think the cases were just about fish and statutory interpretation, think again; the stakes are as vast as the oceans these regulations seek to protect.

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic recently published a study perpetuating the myth that opioid prescriptions launched the ongoing drug overdose epidemic. Two ACSH experts took the clinic to task for sloppy data analysis designed to justify a predetermined conclusion about the risks of painkillers. Let's take a closer look.