public health

Unlike previous public health emergencies, the COVID-19 pandemic had unmistakably partisan overtones. Politics exerted an unhealthy influence on how governments, scientists, reporters and ordinary Americans responded as SARS-CoV-2 swept across the world and upended our lives for the better part of four years. What went wrong and what can we learn from it?
The Bible of science – the body of peer-reviewed literature – is increasingly filled with dubious and even fraudulent research. Most academics openly recognize the threat this poses to scientific progress, though viable solutions to academic fraud are sorely lacking. How do we address this critical problem?
NPR recently lost its nerve over the realization that some men are giving up internet porn, fearing this "masturbation abstinence" trend is a gateway to radical right-wing politics. The media should be more interested in the potentially serious health impacts of porn itself.
A coalition of public health groups has released an "Obesity Bill of Rights" meant to challenge "outdated thinking" about unhealthy weight gain, and to expand access to health care. It's a well-meaning effort built on faulty assumptions and aimed at the wrong audience.
A subset of men is giving up internet porn on the grounds that it's physically and psychologically harmful. Overlooking much of the relevant science, NPR claims this movement promotes "a set of unproven claims" about the benefits of "masturbation abstinence." Let's examine the research NPR chose to ignore.
Vaccination is a pillar of disease prevention, but Americans are under-vaccinated. We need a multi-pronged public education campaign with participation from politicians and celebrities of every stripe.
Roadside drug tests are unreliable, so why are they so widely used in the U.S.? Meanwhile, researchers who make "health disparities" the focus of their work sometimes misrepresent their results. Here's a textbook example from a study that used pulse oximetry to measure disparities in COVID-19 treatment.
On May 25, 2023, merely six weeks before the Wuhan Biosafety lab lost its NIH funding amid the controversy of possible lab leaks and connection with COVID-19, the U.S. proudly opened the doors of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), the 14th biosafety level-4 lab in the nation. It was also the first here capable of handling large animals. What is going on?
Last week, the FDA and CDC presented their recommendations for the newest round of COVID-19 vaccines. As with everything COVID, there are proponents and detractors, or, putting it another way, both knowledgeable experts and disinformation-spreading attention-seekers. The reality is that a group of experts made a judgment based on actual data.  We discuss the evidence here so you can make your own informed decision.
The CDC recently issued guidance related to breastfeeding for "transgender and nonbinary-gendered individuals." It may be the most absurd set of recommendations the agency has ever released.
Social justice advocates continue to demand that professions like medicine become more "diverse." Critics contend this development could bring unqualified physicians into the profession and jeopardize public health. Should we be worried? The FDA wants to label certain foods in the grocery store "healthy." It's an awful idea.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has drawn fire for issuing new recommendations designed to reduce childhood obesity. The AAP's critics are deeply confused.