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The CDC is one of the finest public health institutions on the planet. Because they fearlessly march into "hot zones" to battle deadly infectious diseases, we microbiologists think of the good folks at the CDC as real-life superheroes.

But not everything the CDC does is equally praiseworthy. As Dr. Josh Bloom explains, their portrayal of the opioid crisis has been unhelpful at best and lethal at worst. Their insistence on restricting prescription opioids flies in the face of the overwhelming evidence that the overdose deaths are largely due to the recreational use of fentanyl-laced heroin.

The CDC has also gone on a...

Vaping, NOT SmokingIn their ongoing campaign to stifle the truthful communication of risks (hypothetical) and benefits (not yet documented but theoretically huge) regarding the innovative low-risk nicotine devices, e-cigarettes and vapor products, the NYTimes has reached new heights today. Working hand-in-glove with the public health officials, NGOs and politicians whose craving for cigarette tax money and/or big pharma largesse outweigh their ethics, the Times editorialists published an essay misleadingly titled...

Today is Fat Tuesday, which means the Christian celebration of Lent is about to begin. Apparently, it also means that ACSH is in the media answering tough science questions! Here's where we appeared in recent weeks:

1) WXYZ, the Detroit ABC affiliate, cited our work on how much exercise you must do to burn off the calories from a donut. On Fat Tuesday, many people celebrate by devouring donuts, also called "pączki" (pronounced "pawnch-key") on this day. (Pączki is the Polish word for "donuts." Interestingly, in Poland, this holiday is celebrated on the Thursday before Lent.) As Ana Dolaskie...

If you are of a certain age, you will remember the television and radio ads for Syms clothing. Remember his tagline, "An educated consumer is our best customer?" But in today’s online world, is that possible? Was it ever possible?

“The supposedly informed consumer has always been a misnomer. Purchases are fundamentally asymmetrical interactions. Sellers will almost always know more than you do, and they are free to hide most of it. When buying a home, taking a car in for repairs, choosing a doctor, or deciding whether you actually need a separate eye cream or it’s all just moisturizer in a smaller tub, you will generally end up playing whack-a-mole with your own ignorance. And that’s to say nothing of situations in which an...

One of my extended family members is a former smoker. Nagging him to stop did little good. Warning him against its health dangers produced similarly poor results. He was addicted, and he appeared to like smoking, anyway. 

Then e-cigarettes came along. After giving them a try, he quit cigarettes for good. No nagging was necessary. He received the same kick from vaping minus all the nasty smoke that makes cigarettes so dangerous. His blunted sense of smell and taste returned to normal and breathing became easier. 

His story is not unique. Many former smokers credit e-cigarettes with changing their lives for the better. A study in the journal Tobacco Control concluded that...

The leaves are turning beautiful colors, the air is crisp, pumpkin spice lattes are back, and college football is entering the conference season. Simply put, the transition from September into October is perhaps the greatest time of the year. Well, unless you're a Maryland Terrapins fan like ACSH President Thom Golab.

But no matter how much fun we're having on the side, we never lose our focus on defending good science. Here's where we appeared in recent days:

(1) Dr. Alex Berezow gave a talk at the...

Let's consider liquor stores. They are considered essential services in New York. As someone who enjoys "an adult beverage," I'm down with that. But what about that other popular "adult pastime" marijuana. As you might expect, California deems it an essential service, but so did a majority poll of 5400 Americans. Other states seem to be keeping medical marijuana facilities open and deeming recreational use non-essential. That is quite a change from years ago when a joint could bring you into the legal system. As Forbes ...

"Sitting down for a family feast, do you need to gird yourself for battle in the ongoing sociopolitical culture war? In today's hyperpartisan United States, common food products have become proxies for conservative and liberal values. Meat-eating Republicans versus quinoa-loving Democrats. Imported-beer liberals versus domestic-beer conservatives.

Nothing showcases this proxy war better than the rise of gluten sensitivity."

From, The Conversation, Gluten-sensitive liberals? Investigating the stereotype suggests food fads unite us all...

Just yesterday, I put the finishing touches on an article titled, "10 Worst Bogus Health Stories of 2018." It turns out that my publication was slightly premature. I should have waited a few more hours.

Stanton Glantz is a professor at the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF). He became famous for exposing the shenanigans of the tobacco industry, namely its dishonest public relations campaign to downplay the harmful effects of smoking. As an anti-smoking activist, his efforts have undoubtedly helped save many, many lives.

Unfortunately, Dr. Glantz has become something of an ideologue. His (justifiable) animosity toward the tobacco industry has been turned (...

The Global Forum in Nicotine was held in June and 44 participating countries sent policy analysts, regulators and public health professionals to discuss smoking cessation and harm reduction.

An obvious topic was the role of e-cigarettes as an effective tool in preventing smoking.

The UK Centre for Substance Use Research interviewed 167 young people aged 16-25 years in the UK who ‘vape’ about their usage, and found that the majority of them regard it as socially very distant from smoking, was much less harmful than smoking, and they believe that e-cigarettes make smoking seem abnormal.

In the UK, Public Health England characterizes vaping as being up to 95% less harmful than smoking, while...