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In the last week, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)  initiated a demonstration project involving the bundling of care for two new diagnostic categories. First, acute myocardial infarctions (AMI) – heart attacks including their medical and minimally invasive treatment (coronary artery angioplasty and stents) and second, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) – surgery to improve/restore circulation to the heart arteries.
And I should care why?  ... the presumptive new Health and Human Services Secretary is expected to cancel the demonstration, but it is more important to look at the underlying economics CMS envisions because they are the savings part of Obamacare.

Carrie Fisher’s tragic death after last week’s inflight medical emergency is sadly an all too familiar occurrence. Learn how to improve your travel health and safety whenever possible.

Representing a cross between brilliant engineering and maximum product efficiency, in which the smallest particles of a valuable substance are put to extraordinary use, a team of scientists has created electrical wiring from the absolute smallest pieces of diamonds.
How small, you ask? 
The researchers used material called "diamondoids" – microscopic dust if you will, called "cages," that contain hydrogen and just 10 carbon atoms.

It is common knowledge that the information that makes us unique is held in our DNA. But, how does our DNA make our eyes brown - how does it make us who we are? In order to understand that, we have to walk through the journey of how the information held in DNA becomes protein. 

We are constantly swimming in (and dying from) oceans of chemicals. But, unlike the rest of us, the chemicals never take a day off. Not even Christmas. Ya better watch out.....

With the evidence already established regarding known upticks of cardiac (or heart-related) deaths around Christmas and New Year’s, a new study seeks to elucidate if winter is a main culprit.

Led by the World Health Organization, a group of scientists has pulled off a miracle: a vaccine that protects again deadly Ebola 100 percent of the time. It's a remarkable moment in medicine. 

Borrowing a traditions from the Chinese, 2016 could be rightly be called "The Year of the Joint." Restrictions on marijuana are melting away in individual states, but not at the federal level. The Council weighed in on this, and more.

Dipping a toe into the waters of dental issues associated with scuba diving, a DDS-to-be wants to alert divers to the fact that taking the plunge can exacerbate problems with unhealthy teeth and loose fillings.
The researcher, a student in the University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine, began a small survey of divers on a personal instinct that underwater conditions worsen existing dental problems.

1. In a Christmas miracle, the UN Biodiversity meeting - often environmental activists lobbying bloated quasi-world-government committees - met in Cancun and didn't cave into anti-science environmentalists determined to prevent all biology from being used in agriculture.

If weight gain means anything to you, perhaps take a look at how many calories some of our favorite holiday beverages — champagne and eggnog — contain. (On the other hand, maybe just wait 'til after New Year's and the next resolution!)

We're concerned about Santa. We really are. Think of it: He's wriggling down chimneys all over the world, toting a bag of gifts, and in gratitude snacks are left for him under the tree. Nothing wrong with that, of course. The problem, however, is that the snacks are traditionally cookies and milk. This could be a serious health issue!

With gonorrhea rates climbing in the USA and other countries, an Australian research team set out to determine whether an 1879 claim that Listerine mouthwash could cure it was fact or fiction.

You swear you were sooo careful last year but nevertheless, the tangled Christmas lights prevail. It's knot science, and here's why!

We applaud the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety for its recent report highlighting the dangers of sleep-deprived driving. However, when one sees how the sleep data was gathered, uncertainty about its accuracy – as well as the study's corresponding conclusions on crash rates – creates some doubt.

Paraquat, the herbicide that the DEA once used to try to wipe out domestic marijuana production is back in the news because it is a neurotoxin. What is paraquat and how bad is it really?

Who has the safest furniture in America? Apparently poor people.

As amphibians, toads prefer a wet environment. Those that live in arid regions hide during dry spells underground, where the soil is moist, and they emerge from their shelter when the rain returns. But given that the subterranean soil they inhabit is already damp, how do the toads know when it's raining?

Here at ACSH, we cover nearly every topic under the sun related to biomedicine, chemistry, health, epidemiology, and sports science.
We are sometimes surprised to learn which articles are most popular with our readers. This year, our work on herpes vaccines resonated across the globe. In fact, one of them was the most popular article we wrote all year! (Kudos to Dr. Josh Bloom.)
So, in case you missed them, here are the ten most popular articles we wrote in 2016 (yes, including two on herpes):

Besides the hundreds of millions that will be paid by the NFL to former, injured players, there's a different public-health initiative involving football that's also worthy of attention. That's because it's helping protect teenage athletes by funneling critical assets – athletic trainers – directly to playing fields all across the country.

A debate is on over the benefits of taking aspirin for those without a history of prior cardiovascular disease. The current thinking advocates using low-dose aspirin, for primary prevention, in certain high risk groups: those with advanced age, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking. But not so, says a new study from Japan. 

Dogs are versatile — they may be herders, guard dogs, guide dogs and even therapy dogs. But not all dogs are suitable for every task. One can test them, to be sure, but there may be another way to determine at least some of their personality characteristics — has a dog's muzzle become prematurely gray? If so, he or she may not be suitable for activities that require a calm outlook on life.

There is a flawed assumption in a recent paper claiming female physicians save more lives than male ones. The authors based the assessment of the quality of care to only one physician. But in hospitals, this is a faulty measure.

There are a lot of Seattle Seahawks haters out there. Apparently, a popular insult hurled at the NFL team is that it is a "Johnny-come-lately" franchise supported by a bunch of fair-weather fans, now that the team is good. The problem for the haters, however, is that statistics show it's not true.

A study in Nature Neuroscience  explains that while we've known the radical hormone changes and biological adaptations that come with child bearing, psychological changes have remained unknown. But this prospective study, which includes both first-time mothers and fathers, shows that pregnancy effected changes in brain structure.