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There is a fair amount of confusion about the terms "pharmaceutical fentanyl," "illicit fentanyl," and "fentanyl analogs." Read this and the confusion should go away. It is important to avoid inaccuracies here. Words can make a big difference. 

Data mining genomic data is a growing trend. This study seeks to determine whether nature or nurture control who gets ill. Turns out, it's complicated, and genes may not hold all – or any – of the answers.

Coffee is alternately championed and derided for its health effects. A new study introduces the genetics of caffeine metabolism into the conversation. 

If health care fixes continue to undermine the doctor-patient relationship, financial costs won't be the only price paid.

Who doesn't love the idea of quick and easy weight loss? Imagine being able to eat nothing but ice cream, and still losing 10 pounds. It sounds a little too good to be true, and that's because it is. Weight loss is a $66 billion dollar industry, and one of the most advertised, according to U.S. Weight Loss & Diet Control Market.

When it comes to cigarettes vs. vaping, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Here's why we can't preach an abstinence-only approach to nicotine.

Forty solid years after the Consumer Product Safety Commission implemented regulations for getting rid of lead-based paint, the US is still on the lead-based paint merry-go-round. Last week, I attended a Congressional hearing entitled “Oversight of the Federal Government’s Approach to Lead-Based Paint and Mold Remediation in Public and Subsidized Housing”, which hoped to figure out how the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) can finally be rid of the pesky threat of lead-based paint in federal housing.

Round. Red. Good in salads and great on a BLT. Tomatoes are a typical find in the kitchens of families in the United States, so popular we are the world’s third largest producer of them.
Though some people like to engage in the “tuh-MAY-toh” versus “tuh-MAH-toh” debate, the more popular question when it comes to tomatoes has to do with their classification. Are the circular plants vegetables or fruits?
We're going to answer that once and for all. Maybe. Because science, history, and law create a lot of confusion.

In science and health, we are often looking for results that are considered to be “statistically significant.” The golden rule is if the p-value is less than 0.05, then the result is statistically significant, or “publishable.” However, the interpretation and use of p-values is often misconstrued.
What is a p-value?

A recent study was published estimating that killings of unarmed black Americans contribute to an excess of 55 million poor mental health days per year. Is this estimation accurate?

Many believe that “genetically modified organism” is a term that has some significance for interpreting the safety of food. Most life scientists – geneticists, biologists, ecologists and agronomists – are pretty certain that the opposite is true. Here's why.

If the goal is guaranteeing the safety of children, as well as protecting the general population being from infectious diseases, then why is the act of shaming playing any role in vaccine compliance?

A seven-year study of all Gulf coastal regions maps where fish and other aquatic life live, and in what amounts. This was done in order to give marine biologists a better understanding of the ecological damage that occurred following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, and to help them better prepare for future spills. 

Two FDA expert panels rejected a new extended-release oxycodone pill. Some of their findings are reasonable, even if you don't agree with them. But one reason is very far beyond stupid. Especially since they refused to learn from history. 

Hospital Compare, a CMS website, provides "star-ratings" to hospitals based on performance. It's dropping the safety measures from the star-rating scoring, but it's maintaining the information in another database. Does removing safety measures make the ratings less useful? The answer is, as is often the case, complicated.

Also known as dichloromethane, DCM is a colorless liquid with a mild, sweet odor which evaporates easily but does not readily burn. It has a variety of uses, and it is used in the manufacture of photographic film. DCM is made from methane gas or wood alcohol, and it does not occur naturally in the environment.

Not unlike government or healthcare metrics, the focus on Sen. McCaskill's injury after she received the life-saving Heimlich maneuver is inherently flawed.

Because Medicare Advantage programs are paid in part, by the value their care-partners provide, they choose their partners carefully. And when incentives are aligned, patient outcomes seem to improve. 

A group at Mount Sinai Medical School has made a rather startling discovery. People who died from Alzheimer's Disease had brains that contained more of two herpes viruses than controls. Could we have been looking in the wrong direction for therapies for this disease? This is a potentially huge discovery. 

Cosmic rays are the largest source of radiation exposure associated with flying, and it may have health impacts on flight crews. A new study suggests that the risk of cancer may be increased, but "may" is the operative word. As for the flying public, there should be no concern. 

While the recent Pennsylvania decision on surgical consent centers on a physician's responsibility, it did not consider how it emotionally binds the physician to the patient. The ritual of consent has many layers to consider. 

Can you catch herpes from double dippers? Unlikely, but it's hard to tell because what passes for science in reporting this story clearly flunks science. 

What explains such rapid rises in prices? For one thing, the role played by patents and FDA approvals in drug discovery and sales. There's currently a backlog of roughly 4,000 generic drugs awaiting the agency's approval. Both are factors in how rare and common drugs, such as EpiPens, can shoot up in price so dramatically.

A recent Pennsylvania Supreme court ruling, recognizing what it means to be a doctor, is not a solution but a problem. Authors in The New England Journal of Medicine beg to differ.  

When a gene is copied into a strand of RNA, the DNA in and around the gene must be loosened from its packaged state. Then, Spt6 helps DNA become re-wound when the copying process is completed. It also facilitates RNA degradation. This may lead to ways to understand disease.