A recent study has helpfully advanced our understanding of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Some journalists exaggerated the paper's results in their rush to publish stories. Fortunately, other reporters helpfully and publicly corrected the errors. This is how the media should always operate.
public health
Disparities in COVID-19 outcomes by race or ethnicity have often been reported, deplored, and attributed to socioeconomic factors. It’s clear that vaccination is the main tool for slowing the spreading of the virus; here we examine disparate vaccination rates by race and ethnicity. However, among such disparities, there is an important distinction between equality (sameness) and equity (fairness).
A recent study suggests that vaping is much less harmful than smoking. The authors and the journal that published the paper tried to minimize this result. Do they have an anti-vaping bias?
Many obesity experts argue that changing the public's "food environment" is the key to promoting widespread weight loss. This proposed solution is not backed by solid evidence.
A surprisingly large percentage of physicians have recommended vaping as a safer alternative to their smoking patients, a new study shows. The results suggest that many doctors have parted ways with the abstinence-only approach to smoking cessation championed by tobacco-control activists.
A recent story from the Associated Press (AP) highlights the many flaws in how we talk about teenage vaping. It's a public health issue that needs to be addressed, but before we can do anything about it, we have to understand the level of risk e-cigarette use actually poses to minors.
There is a campaign underway to discourage health care providers from weighing their patients unless it’s "medically necessary." Proponents of this effort are rightly concerned about the stigma often attached to obesity, but they're going about it the wrong way by minimizing the risks of being overweight.
A new study suggests that e-cigarette users, known also as vapers, may harm the respiratory health of those around them via "secondhand vaping." Before we draw any conclusions, the paper has some important limitations that restrict its relevance to the real world.
A new report documents the hefty price countries pay for banning genetically engineered crops. The results aren't pretty, but they clearly illustrate the benefits of embracing biotechnology.
California Governor Gavin Newsom wants to mandate that public school students get their COVID shots. He's also fighting to exempt the state's correctional officers from a vaccine requirement. Let's examine the consequences of hypocrisy.
A new study suggests that smokers who take up vaping may "relapse" to cigarettes. But this is more a problem of definitions than evidence that e-cigarettes don't promote smoking cessation.
A new report from a Congressional subcommittee concludes "that commercial baby foods contain dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium." While these products inevitably contain tiny quantities of these heavy metals, which are ubiquitous in nature, baby foods generally pose minimal risk to young children.