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For anyone who has struggled to schedule a specialist appointment or sift through a mountain of insurance paperwork, the complexity of our healthcare system is painfully clear. Medicare’s introduction of Principal Illness Navigation (PIN) codes formalizes and compensates the critical support that clinicians have long provided, acknowledging that guiding patients through appointments, documentation, and insurance denials is more than a helpful courtesy—it’s, unfortunately, an essential service.

In the media, every food is either a magical cure-all or a hidden danger lurking in your pantry. Instead of addressing our poor lifestyle choices, they chase sensationalized nutrition fads and rodent-based research to deliver headlines that sound more like infomercials than science reporting. Apparently, the only credentials needed to dispense health advice are a talent for buzzwords and a willingness to ignore basic scientific principles.

The source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, remains elusive. With "low confidence," some federal agencies favor the theory that it originated in and leaked from a Chinese laboratory performing "gain of function" research, while most scientists appear to be more persuaded that it came from a zoonotic spillover in a wildlife market.

Billionaires rubbing elbows at inaugurations, tech giants rewriting the rules of online content, and the ever-blurring line between corporate influence and public policy—it’s just another week in the news. This week’s reading dives into the growing oligarchy in tech and finance, the fight over internet regulations, and how we make tough decisions when certainty is an illusion – stories that remind us that power, truth, and accountability are as contested as ever.

Once there was a company called AffinityLifeStyles.com. It sold Alkaline Waters – and got into “hot” water. It’s now bankrupt. Maybe that’s why Gatorade stepped in to fill the market void – and empty your pocket?

The journey of pasteurization is one of science's most significant public health triumphs, and few know that it was vigorously promoted by the founder of a prominent department store. However, a nostalgia for the "not as good as we remember old days" of raw milk threatens to reverse that progress, heralding a new wave of raw-milk-related childhood deaths that pervaded yesteryear. As raw milk champions move into the Department of Health and Human Services, we’re on a collision course with public health disasters that beset the past.

The Carnivore Diet — where fruits and vegetables are banished, and butter is a snack — may seem like satire, but it’s a growing trend with bold claims and even bolder health risks. While influencers glorify meat-only meals and dismiss decades of nutrition science, let’s dive into the absurdities, pseudoscience, and potential dangers of this all-meat misadventure.

The execs at Haleon, a huge multinational consumer products company, ought to take a good look in the mirror. That is, unless misleading, sleazy marketing is in their mission statement. In that case, they're fine.

The medical journal The Lancet recently published a detailed consensus statement classifying obesity as a disease. The statement has engendered both widespread support and criticism. Did the journal make the right call? Listen in to learn more.

We've slapped a tax on sugary drinks, watched prices rise, and people bought less soda — but their waistlines didn’t seem to get the memo. While the scale isn’t budging much, that’s not stopping researchers in a new study from squeezing every last drop of optimism from the data.

The fluoride controversy, where advocates and opponents argue in the media, is a distraction because the views of real and armchair scientists have been overruled. After weighing the scientific evidence, a federal court told the EPA that our current fluoride standards might not be as safe as advertised, ordering the EPA to take another hard look at what’s flowing through our pipes.

During 2023-24 seizures of street drugs laced with carfentanil - a highly potent analog of fentanyl - rose by 720%. Despite the large increase, the absolute number of samples was low. This could change fast as more batches are seized in more places. Carfentanil in street drugs could trigger a disastrous new wave of overdose death.

After 20 years of hemming, hawing, and “evaluating the science,” the FDA is finally muscling its way onto the most coveted real estate in the grocery store —your food’s front-of-package (FOP). The agency has decided it’s time to make nutrition labels impossible to ignore, slapping simplified warnings on everything, including that “healthy” granola bar that’s a cookie in disguise. Both sides respond with the usual theatrics — cue the ominous warnings about consumer confusion, skyrocketing costs, and the tobacco playbook.

Lithium batteries are in the news constantly. But lithium has plenty of other uses. It's a drug for bipolar disorder. It used to be put in soda for hangovers, and it saved the lives of the Apollo 13 astronauts. A little about lithium – a fascinating element.

Ever wondered why carbon dioxide is the reigning champ of global warming? Turns out, it’s all about how it wiggles—literally. Meanwhile, in the realm of human folly, we’re still trying to figure out how to vote without making a mess of it. The Borda Count voting method claims to be the best, but let’s be honest—when was the last time we agreed on anything in politics?
Speaking of good intentions gone awry, consider the Ocean Safety Directorate, where saving lives might just sink the entire shipping industry. And finally, a trip down memory lane—once upon a time, you just became a doctor; now, it's a whole production complete with pledges to humility and self-awareness. What’s next? Participation trophies for diagnosing the flu?

John Batchelor and I dive into the accelerating outbreak of avian flu across the U.S. and the hazard of raw milk.

Americans venerate the four ethical principles as articulated by Beauchamps and Childress: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. However, in the current controversy pitting “medical freedom” believers (advocating an individual’s right to make personal health decisions against proponents prioritizing public health), those principles provide conflicting answers. There are, however, lesser-known paradigms that might provide better guidance.

We are well into the flu season, and people have different strategies for preventing or treating viral infections. Of course, some people choose dietary supplements instead of a flu shot. Lately, many have been choosing elderberry products. Let's go back to the 1970s and compare elderberries to Laetrile, perhaps the most infamous case of alternative medicine.

Chocolate is proof that life’s sweetest indulgences come with strings attached. Just when you thought you could justify a dark chocolate candy bar as “preventative care,” here comes another study to complicate things. Dark chocolate might “possibly” lower your risk of type 2 diabetes, but only if you pair it with kale, a Peloton, and healthy living.

The Lancet Commission has declared obesity a disease. With enough controversy to fill a buffet table, their new definition is sparking heated debates in science, media, and beyond. But does this really change anything?

On January 16, the FDA banned the use of red dye #3 in food and ingested drugs, stating that it causes cancer in male rats but not in humans. This is being hailed as a victory for the Healthy Foods Movement. Red dye #3 is being banned because of an outdated law, the Delaney Clause, which needs to be amended or repealed.

Hormonal
health and hormone balancing are all the wellness rage these days, with
influencers, health coaches, nutritionists, etc. claiming to specialize in it.
With plenty of people offering hot takes, questionable advice, and sketchy
products, it's important to understand this latest trend.

The surge in the “medical freedom” movement has thrust the tension between individual liberty and public health into the spotlight. At its core, this debate questions whether personal autonomy can — or should — supersede collective responsibility, especially in the face of public health crises. As courts increasingly favor individual rights, bioethics offers a framework for analysis. But does it provide real answers or simply muddy the waters further?

Cacio e Pepe, "How hard could it be?" But traumatized home cooks will tell you this creamy dream requires a magician's finesse and an Italian grandmother's patience. Can science make a better Cacio?

Let’s ponder life's great mysteries: What’s in a name? Why does RFK Jr. believe he’s the Socrates of vaccines? Can public health officials stop making nutrition mistakes long enough to determine why Double Stuf Oreos are more appealing than kale? Spoiler: it’s not because Oreos are cheaper; it’s because kale is kale.