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The so-called War on Fast Food has not been the healthcare boon that overzealous regulators anticipated it would be. But that hasn't stopped them from trying, and their latest endeavor is more of the same ineffective thinking, as a New York City lawmaker tries to clamp down on Happy Meals.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today announced that as of September 2, 2015, publication of the Federal Register notice announcing the decision, a genetically engineered (GE) potato variety developed by J.R. Simplot Company (Simplot) engineered for late blight resistance, low-acrylamide potential, reduced black spot bruising, and lowered reducing sugars will be non-regulated.

What's the best procedure for women diagnosed with DCIS breast cancer, also known as ductal carcinoma in situ? Should they undergo surgery, or just have more frequent mammograms? This crucial question is addressed in a recent study, but it doesn't seem to produce a clear answer.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT, "shock therapy") has been a well-accepted treatment for severe depression and other serious mental conditions for decades. Yet, most people perceive it like "the cuckoo's nest" last-resort. We discuss it rationally with experts here.

The (thankfully small) subset of loons that are also known as "AIDS Deniers" must have been overjoyed to see the news today. Some of the abbreviated headlines seems to suggest what they have been believing all along: That despite overwhelming and irrefutable evidence that HIV is the causative pathogen of AIDS, all of it is wrong. So they say.

Good news abounds in 2015 on the vaccine front and the CDC announced some more this week. Vaccine coverage rates among American kindergardeners is very high in most of the country. However, keep that "mission Accomplished" banner at bay. There's still advocacy work to be done.

It took a new national advertising campaign for the FDA to do what they have been saying they would do since the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 gave them the authority. We're on their side, so we don't want to be too mean, but why did it take six years?

Simple lifestyle interventions are a tempting target to stave off cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease. Sadly, two new studies appearing in JAMA show no discernible benefit from exercise activity nor from omega-3 or vitamin supplementation.

First, the EPA bungled the mine disaster in Colorado, polluting a beloved river. Now, it's getting even tougher to believe its officials, when earlier this week the agency announced that an internal investigation of a separate matter cleared itself of wrongdoing.

A new trend among health care systems is posting patient evaluations of staff physicians, or "doctor report cards." This is a bad idea, as professional qualities of care, knowledge and compassion (much less outcomes) are not amenable to Yelp-like reviews as if doctors were personal computers on sale.

Bees die. A lot. They die in the winter, they die in the summer. Sometimes they die in one area, which is what happened in 2006. Why? Well, it could be stress. Or that beekeeping has become a fad, where amateurs are bungling their backyard hive. So there's mounting evidence that the so-called "Beepocalypse" is not to be Bee-lieved.

It appears that some Indiana school children may be forced to create a secret smuggling web. Does it involve drugs, or other contraband? No. They're doing it just to get through their midday meal. Do we want to raise a generation of students who worry they can't even trust their own lunch?

There's a new sugar substitute called allulose (aka psicose), with properties that could make it a very popular, non-caloric sweetener. But it must be manufactured. It'll be interesting to see how psicose will be received by the anti-sugar substitute psychos.

Congress tries to control drug prices and it blows up in their faces. How? Shortages of common drugs, and obscene price gouging for others. Unintended consequences? You bet, along with a few horrendously painful outcomes for patients.

Time to stop counting calories? Really? Doctors say some dietary changes are more important for reducing heart disease. But can t we do both?

A new study links long-term, continuous use of common painrelievers (NSAIDs and aspirin) to a reduced risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). This study does not prove a cause-and-effect benefit, and these drugs can cause bleeding, so discuss with your doctor.

Now that it's OK to eat fat again, we seem to need another dietary villain. Enter The Sugar Film, one Australian's attempt to blame sugar for his ills after he consumes way too much of the stuff. How convincing is it? Not very.

N.Y. Mets' star, David Wright, returned to the field Monday night and announced his recovery from spinal stenosis in the best possible way: by hitting a long home run in his first at-bat. The mystery of why he came down with this condition is unknown. Sadly, a new report shows that local steroid injections probably won't help people suffering from Wright's condition.

No, Virginia, you don't have to drink eight glasses of water every day to be healthy. This is a myth that's been handed down for generations. It wasn't true at the start, and it isn't true now. In fact, too much water can be deadly.

Is meat and dairy an addiction? A group of vegans believe that it is, and like with smoking, harm reduction and gradual cessation may be key to transitioning to this new diet.

Dairy cows have to be dehorned by farmers in a cruel fashion, but its necessary to protect other cows and the farmers that handle them. One scientists, however, is working on a solution: incorporating the genes of from a hornless cow into the regular dairy cow. The technique promises to reduce animal cruelty, but since its a GMO, advocates don't like it.

Would you pay a premium for a product that would prevent your family from getting the food-borne illnesses that sicken 48 million Americans and kill 3,000 more each year? And if it was endorsed by the USDA, the CDC and the WHO, wouldn't you find that safety appetizing?

Vegans are promoting the belief that cheese is somehow addictive. The vegans espousing that call eliminating everything going "cold Tofurky."

While Dr. Norman Borlaug's humanitarian efforts are so vast, sadly they are so little-known to the public and even to scientists. That's why we're once again calling attention to a short documentary film which highlights a lifetime of life-saving work and his fervent devotion to eliminating global starvation.

In today's "you never know what is around the corner" department, a surprising story says that beta-blockers heart drugs that are used to lower blood pressure and slow the heart may have another use. That would be reducing the toll of ovarian cancer, which is one of the hardest types to treat.