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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.

Breast cancer is more difficult to detect in women whose breasts are dense. It is unclear whether there is also underlying behavioral differences in their cancers. Should we treat them as a separate population?

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.

Seven years ago, the global public health community declared the eradication of rinderpest, a severe viral disease of cattle. But today, Bulgaria says it's dealing with an outbreak of ovine rinderpest. They are two different, but closely related, viruses. Here's some insight into what we know.

A new, large-scale breast cancer study of nearly 760,000 premenopausal women produced a surprising result: as body fat increased, their cancer risk decreased. That's the opposite of the risk for women who have reached menopause. But don't take this to mean it's OK to put on the pounds. 

It was a busy recent stretch for the American Council, working to continually promote the need for sound-science decision making.

The online news arm of this journal s a solid source of information. However, it reprinted an article from E&E News that stated green energy is the way to go and the environment is full of scary chemicals. Associating itself with this outlet was a dubious decision, and one that may prove damaging to its reputation. 

With a constant surge of competing profit centers fragmenting healthcare, more layers than ever are conspiring to erode the doctor-patient relationship. Here is a guide to being your own advocate. It will help reduce your anxiety, eliminate unnecessary suffering and improve outcome and recovery.

When it comes to current scientific studies being conducted to measure "team chemistry" – and break it down into its parts, and create accompanying metrics so it can be calculated and potentially replicated – here's the score: This cannot be done.

This very dangerous plant is in the news because it's being increasingly spotted across the United States. But what you probably don't know is that one of the chemicals that makes the plant so dangerous is also a drug that treats psoriasis. 

The University of California, San Francisco is hosting documents acquired by anti-chemical, anti-pharmaceutical, and anti-biotech activists. This is not "transparency" but propaganda. Taxpayer-funded propaganda.