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Be honest. Few of us actually read nutritional labels. That said, marketing specialists have studied which labels may make a difference, and to whom. Can we use their findings to help us make other choices?

Operation Warp Speed brought together a broad array of government resources to achieve a similar, seemingly impossible rapid pace of development, regulatory approval, and distribution of vaccines to prevent COVID-19. But no matter how quickly or successfully vaccine(s) are developed we have been woefully ineffective in the development of other ways to tame the pandemic, especially readily available and accurate tests and proper PPE. Will the Biden plan pick up the slack?

There’s a new diet that’s the talk of the town. It advocates eating more calories, not less. So is it all fad, or is there a grain of truth to it?

I've been writing about the barbaric war against pain patients since 2013. Despite the hundreds of desperate emails I've received, and the stories I've read, it has never entirely hit home. Until now. My very elderly mom is being put through the wringer, in order to get some tramadol for back pain. If this doesn't demonstrate the colossal stupidity of our drug laws, nothing does.

There are three major reasons why SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus, will never be eradicated.

Should people who were given propofol be allowed to drive home? Are men drivers better or worse than women? Some ghastly chemistry poetry, and one of the funniest YouTube videos ever. Oh, to answer the original question: it's impossible to tell from this study. Here's why.

The value of hydroxychloroquine in treating COVID-19 patients continues to rise from the ashes of refutation in the medical literature. The latest iteration is a meta-analysis of utilizing the drug early in ambulatory patients' care to lessen the undesirable outcomes of infection, hospitalization, and death. Several of our readers and members of our Board of Scientific Advisors believe that this study is important and that we disregard it at our risk. We are letting a proponent of each side make their case. 

Polling is more art than science. Once again, American pollsters have shown that they aren't as good as we thought.

People with Type A blood are more susceptible to a particular kind of lung disease, which happens to be triggered by the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

On the literary menu this time: The disturbing past of statistics ... the intriguing past of textiles ... the hidden cost of flour ... and how we view dining out.

COVID-19 cases continue to increase. Public health officials continue to try and manipulate social behavior to reduce the rate of infections. So it's worthwhile to review our understanding of the disease that physicians currently confront.

The American media focuses on the failures to control the coronavirus in this country, but a larger perspective shows that the virus is out of control in much of the world, especially in Europe. Some other countries are doing worse than the U.S., at least for the time being.

It's looking like winter will arrive with rising numbers of cases in the U.S. and Europe. Hospitals are again beginning to fill up. But there's some evidence that the hard-won lessons in treating COVID-19 are beginning to improve outcomes.

America is now facing its second lockdown. Other countries are verging on a third. Repeated efforts at COVID-19 containment seem elusive. No respite seems in sight – other than hope of a vaccine. Along with concerted efforts in this direction, the vexing incidence of escalating vaccine resistance is raising its ugly head – yet again, stoked by a growlingly effective anti-vax movement and false prophets of vaccine doom. This trend seems to have hit the Black community particularly hard.  

An especially malignant fallacy is now circulating in the news, that the spike in COVID deaths can be explained by financial gain to physicians. That is totally untrue, and it's an unprecedented slap in the face to doctors and other healthcare workers. In a lesser-noticed moment, HHS moves towards more transparent healthcare costs.

Can you use a Dreaded Chemistry Lesson from Hell (TM) to take your mind off your woes? If so, dive right in.

There are about 2,000 drugs and vaccines (mostly the former) now in clinical trials. ACSH advisor Dr. Henry Miller argues that to get COVID-19 under control we will need therapeutics no matter how effective vaccines are. Here's why.

Well, not a picture so much as a block of text. Operation Warp Speed moves closer to results. The discussion of who is first in line, who may skip the line altogether, or who will wait until there is no longer a line is heating up. Health and Human Services has a plan. 

For your consideration this time 'round: An American woodworker ... the neurology of being in "the flow" ... a guide to reading in the tsunami of information and misinformation ... and a consideration of whether cells "think."

As the possibility of an effective COVID-19 vaccine grows, there are questions of distribution. The first-come, first-served approach seems (and is) too random to save lives or the economy. We need some form of prioritization, and here we are in uncharted territory; there are no facts, only computer models. Let's consider one optimized to save the most lives. 

The first known death from a cyberattack raises the prospect that malware could be more than just a financial crime.

We don't have an unlimited supply of diagnostic tests for COVID. So, researchers have developed nine simple questions that can predict whether someone is likely to have the disease.

Europe is in worse shape than the U.S. when it comes to new infections, at least for the time being. Without a change in strategy -- and hoping for a vaccine is not a strategy -- going back into lockdown is pointless, as a third (or fourth) wave will emerge when society reopens.

There's growing concern about plastics' ultimate fate, as that kind of waste continues to fill our oceans, landfills, and ourselves. It seems logical that banning single-use plastics would help stem the tide. But a new review finds that to be not quite as true, as advocates argue.

This week, the CDC modified its definition of direct contact for COVID-19 from 15 continuous minutes to 15 accumulated minutes within a distance of six feet or less. Should we consider this change in definition as flip-flopping, "moving the goalposts,” or something else?