Search results

"Words can be powerful," a phrase often heard when words are hurtful or convey a misunderstood meaning. A transcultural study shows that language is indeed powerful. And is not virtually, but truly, an evolutionary force.

We must be doing something right. We have received so much media attention in the past several days, that it's hard to keep track. Here's where we've appeared.

Patient portals are meant to improve a user's "health journey" but the results are mixed. More physician appointments, fewer emergency department visits ... but no information on improving health.

Scientists from two universities and the National Institutes of Health are developing a vaccine to defeat norovirus' defense mechanism: mutation. By targeting a "conserved region" -- the part of the viral capsid that does not mutate -- they have discovered an antibody that may cover most strains that circulate now, as well as those that might circulate in the future.

Older people often take many supplements, including ones purported to help with brain health. A recent study says the supplements do not work.

Predictably, Big Pharma is resisting the call to include pricing information to their advertisements. A lawsuit and the testimony of the expert make a good case ... for not running the ads at all.

Nine American tourists have died this year under mysterious circumstances in this Carribean nation. Should Americans still visit it? Well, yes. As it turns out, going there is safer than driving ... or visiting Mexico. We crunched the numbers.

While random gun violence in a hospital makes headlines, there are more pervasive forms of violence against caregivers that don't make the news. Perhaps they should. Let's take a look.

It's mildly amusing that ACSH is referred to as "industry-friendly." That term, which is applied to us by friend and foe alike, is based on a half-truth. And half-truths are the worst kind of "truths" because they're actually lies. Just ask the organic, dietary supplement, and alternative medicine industries if they think we're friendly.

The state of Oklahoma is smelling blood in the water -- and it's going after blood money. State Attorney General Mike Hunter has a very big "blood donor" in his sights: Johnson & Johnson. The expert witness for the state is (of course) Andrew Kolodny. Is Kolodny qualified? These 8 questions should be posed to him.

Good public health is our passion at ACSH. We want to promote it while simultaneously preserving individual liberty. That's been the goal since our founding in 1978. On rare occasions, however, a heavy-handed approach may be necessary. We believe that's the case for vaccines -- which should be mandatory -- because the right of anti-vaxxers to be sick ends where the public's right to health begins.

Can a Livestock Revolution -- like Norman Borlaug's Green Revolution -- bring technological improvements to increase meat production in an environmentally responsible way? The Breakthrough Institute's whitepaper votes in the affirmative.

This is what the CDC is proposing because binge drinkers tend to abuse opioids. But that makes no sense. It would be like adding a special tax to automobiles because some people drive them at 100 mph.

The FDA has issued an advisory to physicians following two deaths from fecal microbiota transplants. Not a transplant you are familiar with? Read on.

Too many journalists are experts in nothing and behave like partisans and activists. That's how a journalist can go on social media and celebrate that her poor reporting caused a company to lose hundreds of millions in market capitalization.

The truth is that sugar is just sugar. Neither good nor bad, but simply another dietary component that can be consumed in moderation without guilt or worry. 

For decades, our health care system has been tied to a fee-for-service model. This payment approach creates an incentive for providers to require patients to undergo additional tests that may not be necessary. We cannot afford to continue going down this road. Pfizer's Dr. Robert Popovian discusses an alternative — a return to a capitated payment model.

Harvard's Chris Gerry, Ph.D. has previously written about Zolgensma, the world's most expensive drug, and some of the economics behinds its price. Is Zolgensma, the only treatment for spinal muscular atrophy, too expensive, a bargain, or somewhere in between? As Oscar Wilde once said, “the truth is rarely pure and never simple.”

A new study suggests that teaching hospitals -- our centers of academic medical excellence -- are no more expensive to patients than your local community hospital. While we may quibble about the numbers, one thing is clear: the cost of hospitalization is only a little more transparent than the cost of medications. Do we see a pattern?

It's been a good month for us at ACSH. Cox Media correctly defined us in a story about glyphosate in cereal. And a media fact-checking group decided that we deserved a 'High' rating for a "clean fact check record." And the month's not even half over.

Summer is just about here. But we're not going on vacation. There's far too much junk science out there for us to take a break. Here's where we were cited in recent days.

We use all our senses while eating. We notice the taste, the crunchy feel, the snap, and the crackle and pop. As it turns out, whether we stand or sit may affect our perception of foods taste and are subsequent consumption.

To this question, James Mattis once famously answered, "Nothing. I keep other people awake at night." But not everybody is as courageously confident as this General. So what are the top health and safety concerns on the minds of security officials? Let's take a look.

Facebook says it jettisoned this screwball for violating its policies, citing the spread of misleading or inaccurate information. But this doesn't fly. Because Adams, who runs the psychotic Natural News website, has been spewing medical and scientific nonsense for many years. The ban wasn't about inaccurate info; Adams just made a crazier-than-usual claim that happened to be more offensive than usual. As for Facebook, it took this get-tough step to save face.

The New York Times ran an Op-Ed about the wellness industry that asked, "Why are so many smart women falling for its harmful, pseudoscientific claims?" Gee, maybe it's because they also read about the benefits of witchcraft in the very same newspaper?