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Let’s not forget that the goal in tamping down the COVID-19 pandemic is to vaccinate the world. But it’s an ambitious project impaired by the concepts of “vaccine nationalism,” fostered by “vaccine diplomacy.” We should consider more than how those words make us feel.

Chocolate is a staple in any Easter basket, but don’t fall for the rhetoric that the fancy-pants high cocoa (cacao!) stuff is a lot healthier.

Antibe Therapeutics is developing a badly-needed new class of anti-inflammatory and analgesic NSAIDs that seem to be much easier on the stomach. The FDA just approved the company's IND for otenaproxesul while the drug has already undergone Phase 2 trials in Canada and is gearing up for Phase 3. Not your typical path for drug development, but whatever works is just fine.

The push to reopen schools continues, as does the back and forth between the CDC’s school-opening guidelines and the teachers' unions saying “not so fast.” Could we all agree that remote learning has not adequately replaced in-class learning? Here is some data to consider.

Processed food has changed our world, providing nutritious, tasty food to growing populations. Questions are being raised regarding the “healthfulness” of processed foods, with more and more studies searching for an answer. But first, can anyone tell you what "processed" means?

Just as restaurants, fast-food or otherwise, are beginning to open up, a new study demonstrates an association between eating out and your mortality. I’ve had a few bad meals in my time, but can they be killing me?

With our first baby on the way, my wife and I were tempted to buy into common activist tropes about pesticides and food safety. Here's how we checked our fears as parents-to-be.

So which is it? And what gives this versatile adhesive its name? Odds are you, and most of those you know, have no idea. But luckily we have Dr. Joe Schwarcz to explain its origins. So if you have a few minutes, the Director of McGill University's Office for Science and Society, and ACSH friend, will reward you with some interesting insights.

Back in 2019 I did an April Fool's Day 'interview' with Andrew Kolodny. Many of you enjoyed it. He did not. Here's a new one. Have fun!

Once again, it seems you are what you eat, but only if you consider what your digestive tract’s microbiome is willing to snack on.

Obesity remains a significant public health problem. Now that we have the basic physiology in hand, it’s time to talk about the biggest problem in reducing this disease: human behavior.

A new article in the journal Clinical Toxicology reports on prohibited stimulants, found in significant amounts, in several sports and weight-loss supplements. Don’t let the long (and maybe scary) title of the research fool you. It presents sound science and deserves a broader audience than just toxicologists.

COVID-19 has brought racial and gender disparities in healthcare to the forefront, although they have been present for many years. A new article captures the gap in research participation.

Indisputable evidence shows the absence of a correlation between the number of opioid prescriptions and opioid abuse or addiction. This has not, however, dissuaded practicing physicians from buying into the false narrative that prescribing opioids for pain is fueling the overdose crisis.

When it comes to medications and advertising, the FDA has a host of regulations designed “to better inform us,” helping to separate fact from hype. The evidence for food labels helping nudge better choices is plus-minus. How about preventative care, like sunscreen? A new study shows that labeling regulation is failing.

There has been no shortage of COVID-19 vaccine doubters. One (of the infinite number) of criticisms of the mRNA vaccines is that clinical trial data is somehow unreliable, or that the vaccine won't work in the “real world." But a study at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center has slammed the brakes on that theory. The Pfizer/Moderna vaccines almost entirely prevented infection in first-line medical workers.

Are you being overcharged for aspirin in the hospital? Is it cheaper to pay for drugs in cash rather than go through your insurance plan? How can you find out? Robert Popovian and Wayne Winegarden argue that healthcare cost transparency will bring down healthcare costs.

AstraZeneca just cannot get out of its own way. The latest confusion over the company's data is the second unintentional, self-inflicted misstep, and all told it continues to generate concern.

There has for some time been a schism in medicine between the doers and the thinkers. I’m a doer, a surgeon. My friends include a lot of thinkers, oncologists, infectious disease, primary care, pediatrics. I also have “thinker-friends” that are often more like me than their thinker brothers and sisters. They are often referred to as interventionalists – cardiologists in the catheterization laboratory or gastroenterologists with their scopes. 

What is trust? Did whales learn to avoid whalers? The dangerous self-fulfillment of ludic loops

The more protective our immunity is after being infected by COVID-19, the less likely we will be reinfected. A recent study from Denmark shows that our immune system does a pretty good job, but the vaccination might be a wee-bit better.

You would think that healthcare workers, those in “the business,” would be jumping at getting a COVID-19 vaccine – you would be wrong. Here are a few of the facts.

It costs considerably more to live in an assisted-living setting than to remain at home. But our healthcare system frequently doesn’t address the changes to the “infrastructure” necessary to allow individuals to access that option. We are, at best, being “penny wise, pound foolish.” And, at worst, we're placing the elderly in less hospitable environments.

If junk science were a competition, the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) annual reported “Dirty Dozen” would routinely make the finals. As expected, in 2021, EWG has again demonized conventional agriculture practices with their Dirty Dozen list, and there are no shortages of naïve reporters in the media willing to accommodate their nonsense. 

In today's "just when you think it can't get any worse" feature, DEA agents are now seizing counterfeit Adderall pills that contain pure methamphetamine. Although Mexican drug cartels are blamed for making these pills to get young people addicted to meth, the ultimate blame falls on DEA policies. What a mess.