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Despite the reality of measles, rotavirus, and a plethora of other infectious diseases, there's yet another anti-vaccine movement afoot in California. And its aim is to turn the clock back to the 10th Century.

Our culture is in crisis, ignoring that is malpractice.

A study demonstrates that confidence in one's cooking skills translates into cooking more often, and perhaps more nutritiously. Have we overlooked how Home Econ is the applied techniques of science, technology, engineering, and math? 

Instead of treating our energy policy like salad toppings at a buffet, let's just go full steam ahead on the one thing that could meet all of the world's energy needs right now: Nuclear power.

Whether you drink or not, alcohol has many effects on your health. One of those that's underappreciated has been revealed: It's the first comparison of bacteria found in the mouths of drinkers versus teetotalers. So if you're a frequent drinker, you may want to pour yourself a tall one before reading these results. 

A recent meta-analysis of the impact of prenatal acetaminophen on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism vacillates between the academic need to publish a positive finding, and the clinical need to put findings into context for patients.

Is being overweight in childhood linked to mom's prenatal caffeine intake? If it is, it's not terribly well supported by this new study published in BMJ.

It's dangerous being livestock. If you aren't being fattened up to be turned into a Happy Meal, you're wandering the fields, gobbling up plants that appear tasty and innocent – but are actually toxic. Plant poisonings cost the livestock industry more than $500 million every year.

The quality of your sleep is directly related to how you feel and function the next day, and in general. However, a recent study found that sleep-deprived adults know what they should be doing to get essential rest time – but they simply pay little attention to do what's necessary to achieve it.

As part of a new Youth Tobacco Prevention Plan, earlier this month agency officials launched a large-scale, nationwide, undercover blitz to crack down on the sale of e-cigarettes to minors at both brick-and-mortar and online retailers.

Policymakers argue about whether sin taxes – on tobacco, alcohol etc. – are regressive, affecting the poor more than the wealthy. But no one argues the health benefits; they are assumed. Wouldn't a bit of evidence about the benefit of sin taxes, to some entity other than the government, been helpful?

Here's some of what we've been up to in the past few days, in the media and around Washington, DC.

A 26-year-old man attempted suicide by taking 29 capsules of an experimental drug obtained from a clinical trial. His vital were alarming, but treatment improved his condition. Later, a doctor told him the pills weren't antidepressants, as the man believed. That's because he'd been randomized into the control arm of the trial. Yes, that's right: He overdosed on placebos.

The CDC's message is clear: Do not eat any romaine lettuce. And if you have any in your kitchen, get rid of it. Romaine from Arizona is contaminated with E. coli, which can lead to diarrhea, vomiting and in some cases, hospitalization and death. So since you can't know where your lettuce was grown, take no chances and skip the Caesar salad until this blows over. 

Having just buried his wife, First Lady Barbara Bush, former President George H.W. Bush is admitted to the hospital.

The sudden loss of any body part is life-altering. Yet we live in a time with plentiful options that are continuously advancing, and which can be used to restore a person to a high degree of function. 

Question: Does the deletion a gene make an organism genetically modified? Answer: Not if the organism is a plant – only if it's an animal. The contradictions of that definition are now a subject of congressional concern.

Perhaps at some point, dietary supplement fans are going to wonder why they spent so much money on a bunch of stuff which ended up being useless. Regarding omega-3 fatty acid supplements from fish, and whether they have any impact on fatal heart attacks, nonfatal heart attacks, strokes, the results are in. Effectiveness: zilch.

It's time for marijuana advocates to admit what's plainly obvious: Pot is a recreational drug. But let's stop pretending that cannabis is a miraculous painkiller or wonder drug. Most people who use it simply like getting high. And let's stop denying that legalizing marijuana will come with some serious public health consequences.

Instead of livers being transported to transplant recipients packed in ice, researchers sent them hooked to an oxygen-producing machine at 98.6o F in a warm bath of nutrient-infused liquid. And in this small European study, 50 percent fewer livers were discarded, resulting in 20 percent more of the organs being transplanted.

It's a drive to end tobacco smoking. New nicotine delivery systems from the FDA's "low to no" nicotine cigarettes, as well as JUUL's nicotine vaporizers, are getting a lot of media attention. As a physician, I use the scientific evidence and my experience in counseling my patients. Here's what you should consider. 

The Health and Human Services Secretary was readmitted for diverticulitis two days after he was discharged. While it was most likely due to his disease getting worse, it does highlight the concern about readmission, which is both common and costly. 

H.R. McMaster Sr. was a resident of a senior living facility in Philadelphia that provides a host of supportive services. Reportedly, while receiving care there he suffered a stroke. An investigation is now underway into the death of the father of the former National Security Advisor.

Who's prescribing homeopathy? A research group sought to learn if there's a difference between medical practices that prescribe homeopathy, and those that don't. What it found was that practices with the worst prescribing quality were more than twice as likely to recommend homeopathy than those who were best.

PCBs have been detected in the air from kitchen cabinets. Does it matter? Or is what inside the cabinets more dangerous. Answer: Neither.