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Welcome to the world of opioid prescribing, where government mandates based upon Morphine Milligram Equivalents (MMEs) are the rule rather than clinical judgment. In the zeal to fight the risk of opioid addiction, policymakers chose a metric — then forgot what it was meant to measure.

Zinc is known primarily as something you take for a cold. But there's much more to it. Let's have Steve and Irving 2.0 – now dwellers in the AI netherworld – swing into a Dreaded Chemistry Lesson From Hell. ™️

There’s a new villain in the hive. On his radio program, "CBS Eye on the World," John Batchelor and I unpacked the real threat to honeybees, discussed a new remedy for it, and explained why treating bees as livestock is harmful.

Nothing says spring as much as cherry blossoms or opening day in Major League Baseball. For many fans, attending a game in person to see that ceremonial first pitch is often followed by the ceremonial consumption of a hot dog. Not bothered by baseball’s momentary reprieve from our day-to-day vicissitudes, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCMR) offers some warnings, stats, and carcinogenic handwringing.

Before Watson and Crick basked in Nobel glory, before The Double Helix mythologized their genius, there was the photo. Photo 51 — crisp, clear, and groundbreaking — captured by Dr. Rosalind Franklin, the crystallographer whose name is often footnoted in a story she helped write. But Franklin wasn't just a supporting character in the DNA saga. She was the scaffolding.

This week’s reading list spans from the dugout to the data table: from a poignant moment in 1948 baseball, to why natural gas bans are stuck in legal limbo, to how universities became productivity cults in khakis. So, grab a hot dog, maybe a spreadsheet or a beer, and settle in.

A resurgence of heroin in the black market might be contributing to a significant drop in fentanyl-related overdose deaths, with provisional CDC data showing a 24% decline in overall U.S. overdose deaths by September 2024. Could this shift, alongside harm reduction efforts like increased naloxone distribution, be reducing fatalities? Let's take a look.

Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has controversially promoted vitamin A as a treatment for measles, despite evidence showing it can be toxic in high doses and is no substitute for vaccination. Kennedy's view is particularly ironic given his criticism of genetically engineered Golden Rice, a crop designed to boost...vitamin A levels in developing countries.

Headlines warn of “toxic dust.” But are these ominous claims grounded in current science — or just blowing dust in our eyes? What was found behind the scary headlines is far less dramatic than advertised.

Is everyone’s favorite physician, Dr. Google, about to be replaced by a smarter algorithm? In a new study of virtual urgent care, AI played the role of digital triage nurse, doctor’s assistant, and maybe even top student in class. But before we hand over the stethoscope, let’s talk about how this study was designed, who graded the tests, and what was quietly left out of the final scorecard.

Behind the polished facade of peer-reviewed journals lurks a growing epidemic of junk science — propped up by predatory publishers, ignored conflicts of interest, and research so bad it refuses to die, even after retraction.

We’ve got enough calories to go around, but somehow, we’re still managing to feed people into chronic disease. When food policy treats a vending machine dinner and a home-cooked meal as equals, maybe it’s time to rethink the menu.

The debate over impoundment — the President’s refusal to spend money appropriated by Congress — has become prominent in our political discourse, igniting fierce arguments from various quarters. Critics call it a dangerous power grab, while supporters hail it as a necessary tool for fiscal discipline.

This week’s reading dives into the quiet casualties of convenience: the death of the doctor’s note, the fallout of screen-based learning, and the existential crisis of the USPS. If tech is the answer to everything, are we still asking the right questions?

What happens when a teenager’s identity collides with a courtroom gavel? In the United States, gender-affirming care for minors has become the ultimate battleground where medical ethics, adolescent autonomy, and political ideology clash — with doctors stuck in the middle and lawmakers rewriting the rules of consent as they go.

Lung cancer screening with low-dose CT could have saved tens of thousands of lives — if only we'd listened to the data back in the 1970s. Instead, fear of radiation, obsession with overdiagnosis, and bureaucratic hand-wringing kept this proven life-saving tool out of reach for decades. It’s a case study of how good science can be silenced by flawed assumptions.

Seals, dolphins, and seabirds are becoming ill and dying in disturbing numbers on West Coast beaches. The culprit is an algae-based toxin named domoic acid. The way this works is fascinating.

The rapid expansion of legalized sports betting in the U.S. has fueled a significant increase in gambling addiction, with calls to helplines surging and treatment providers overwhelmed by demand. While the industry generates substantial revenue, it also imposes hidden costs on society, including financial ruin, mental health problems and strained public resources. Now the question is: Can we bring this emerging public health crisis to heel?

As AI quietly takes the wheel in medicine and other fields, once-sharp skills might quietly rust in the background. If AI is doing the thinking, are we still thinking at all?

Everyone wants to live longer — and better. As advocates like the MAHA moms push for a shift from simply avoiding disease to preserving strength, sharpness, and emotional well-being, a new Nature Medicine study asks a timely question: Can what we eat in midlife help us age healthily?

Does the Dreaded Chemistry Lesson From Hell have an impact? Hell yeah. A former colleague responded to a recent lesson about purifying silver. His memoir is pure gold.

If you thought happiness was a warm puppy or a good tax refund, think again. According to the U.N., it’s a data point on a chart topped by Finland and mysteriously featuring Mexico and Israel in the top 10. Welcome to the annual World Happiness Report, where vibes are converted into spreadsheets, and antidepressant use is politely ignored.

Walgreens is about to be strip-mined by private equity like it’s the last orange in Florida. Meanwhile, your credit card company is quietly labeling you a "revolver" (spoiler: it's not as cool as it sounds), and people used to gamble on popes like they now do on the Final Four. Welcome to this week’s reading roundup, where history, money, and class anxiety meet.

Social media often feels like a battlefield: rapid-fire opinions, personal attacks, and a constant pull to react rather than reflect. But what if ancient wisdom could offer a different playbook? The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, a 2,000-year-old guide to mental and spiritual discipline, might not mention trolls or threads but its insights on self-restraint, truthfulness, and perspective are surprisingly relevant to today’s online chaos.

What do elite Navy SEALS, world-class free-divers, and marine mammals have in common? They all push the limits of breath-hold endurance — yet only one group evolved with the right warning system to avoid drowning. As it turns out, the difference between life and death underwater may hinge on whether your body listens to oxygen … or its proxy, carbon dioxide.