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If you're someone who lies awake at night worrying about how much the next steroid injection for your knee is going to hurt, rest easy. You have one less worry. The shots don't work. Not even a bit. 

With contemporaneous medical coverage in the media, being first should not trump the essential need to be accurate. The North Carolina senator had to release two videos correcting seemingly false reports about the consequences of his collapse during a race in Washington, DC.

Nearly 1 in 5 morbidly obese patients who underwent gastric band surgery were forced to have another operation to correct problems, according to a new study in the journal JAMA Surgery. And for many patients two, three or more "reoperations" were necessary.

New York State requires physicians to take a course on opioid prescribing to maintain their license. Here are some lessons for everyone on the opioid epidemic

A teenager's recent death from caffeine consumption inspired this article, mainly because people may not realize that caffeine, in large amounts, can be toxic. Another inspiration was to highlight some very cool, but little known, research that tests just how toxic caffeine is. Read this – and you'll never look at a spider web the same way again.

Kerr, who missed coaching his seventh straight NBA playoff game last night due to debilitating back pain, provided some ill-advised medical advice for those in situations similar to his own. Even though his two back operations failed, the Golden State Warriors head coach was wrong to tell the public never to have back surgery.
 

The Department of Misinformation is (as always) in high gear at Whole Foods. This time those folks are trying to convince consumers that it doesn't use pesticides on the grocer's overpriced stuff. Only problem is that they do. Minor error. Anyone could make it.

Many things in life invite skepticism, but the safety of pasteurized milk is not one of them. In fact, the CDC's new report states that unpasteurized dairy products cause 840 times more illnesses and 45 times more hospitalizations than pasteurized products. But guess what? Raw milk sales are rising as people (falsely) believe it's healthier. 
 

Today most babies are born healthy as a direct result of medical advances and infection control measures. Maternal and infant mortality rates have dramatically declined because of them, which is wonderful news. So given the unpredictable scope of childbirth for mother and baby, why add a risk factor?
 

For some, opioids aren't just painkillers; they serve as a lure into an addictive, self-destructive lifestyle. The sense of euphoria that opioids can cause proves irresistible to some addicts. For this reason, pharmaceutical companies are seeking to discover and develop non-opioid, non-addictive drugs to treat pain.

Medical researchers with the Navy in San Diego concluded that young male adults who watched pornography were more likely to be dissatisfied with actual sexual encounters. And the more porn they consumed the more desensitized they became to human interaction – while increasing their risk of experiencing erectile dysfunction.

As bacterial resistance continues to grow and antibiotics become harder than ever to discover, there may be a new guideline that should be invaluable in assisting the search for new antibiotics – especially those for Gram-negative bacteria, the toughest nut to crack. A non-obvious, but potentially game-changing observation could revolutionize the way in which new antibiotics are discovered. 

A paper claiming an environmental cause for two cancers that have been intensively studied over decades has serious flaws. That's because there's little-to-no evidence that environmental pollution plays a role.

The NewYorkBIO Annual Conference brings together emerging and established companies, investors, business development professionals, scientists and others supporting and advancing life science discoveries. We were more than happy to be included.
 

For those who want raw fish, such as sushi, freshness is absolutely mandatory. However, old fish is still problematic even if cooked. So a group of Taiwanese researchers developed a semiconductor sensor that detects fish freshness in 60 seconds.

Fourth grader Savannah wants to know: How does electricity always know which path to take? The topic is complex but here are just the quick basics.

With criminal charges made public in the untimely death of a Penn State student, it's clear health misperceptions exist on college campuses. Here, we clarify some of those – while urging all universities to reassess and improve their initiatives. 

Visual impairment among preschool children is a problem that's had profound academic and social consequences. It could be easily corrected with screening that's both accurate and – for a change – not expensive. 

Astrophysicist and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson recently appeared on Conan O'Brien's TV show. As usual, he was engaging, charismatic and amusing. But when Dr. Tyson discussed microbiology and philosophy that's when his stars fell out of alignment.

If you remember 1982, at that time AIDS was a death sentence – and a gruesome one at that. But a recent Lancet paper shows how far we've come. And the difference between what Randy Shilts describes in his book and today is nothing short of miraculous. 

Regarding the issue that, “patients have long been aware that many unseen dollars drive medical decisions and events,” the sunshine of disclosure has been recommended as the cure. But does it work? 

A San Diego pharmacist, concerned for those shouldering the high cost of the drug injectors, is helping them by identifying the product's effective shelf life. And at at cost of roughly $600 per pair, knowing how long EpiPens will actually work can translate into real savings for families on a tight budget.

One final observation on our great post-war successes in controlling malaria by targeting its vector, the Anopheles mosquito. By using that most marvelous insecticide DDT, we were beginning to gain the upper hand in our conquest of malaria as clearly demonstrated in the table below.

Country

Malaria occurrence per annum prior to introduction of DDT

There's a camp that says innovation in drug development comes solely from academia and government labs. Another says the pharmaceutical industry invents drugs, without academic involvement. Both camps are wrong. Usually, both academia and industry contribute to drug discovery. An example is the long, grueling battle against hepatitis C. 

American Council Board Advisor Jerry Cutler takes a look at medical situations that should prompt us to re-evaluate the application of the linear dose-response model.