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It's time to turn the forces of political correctness against themselves. If society is going to be in the dubious business of banning words, then we ought to do that because they're factually incorrect – rather than politically incorrect. And there's no better place to start than with the abbreviation "GMO."

The CDC is told seven words are no longer allowed in their documents. Banning words and thoughts doesn't work, just ask George Carlin. Do they think it will somehow work now?
 

A 38-year-old former NFL running back believes he's currently experiencing symptoms of CTE, the degenerative brain disease that currently can only be diagnosed after death. Can his insight help researchers better understand this disease? Is it meaningful, or meaningless?

Drug discovery is a long, tortuous and impossibly difficult job. A group at the University of Warwick has come up with a mathematical model that seems to be a very big step in streamlining the process. But is it really? To answer this we need to take a look at how drugs are discovered. 

Waze, a driving navigation app, has moved from traffic advisor to traffic director as it's user base grows. But does this new algorithmic overlord have special responsibilities?
 
 

Drugs submitted for FDA approval must have safety and efficacy data for the condition they're designed to treat. Sometimes, however, a drug is found to be effective for another condition, and doctors are within their rights to prescribe it for such "off-label" uses. Such may soon be the case for metformin.

Just about 10 years ago, ACSH published the first edition of our booklet Celebrities vs. Science, calling out a number of well-known personalities for promulgating non-scientific nonsense. Unfortunately, that trend has continued, as a new essay points out.

Somebody is pulling a conceptual fast-one over those gullible enough to believe it, both on and off the ice. It's the selling of a false reality, rooted in a baseless premise that changing a uniform's color can make athletes skate faster. Absurd doesn't begin to describe this.

Value-based healthcare: that's the goal. But like blind men touching an elephant, describing one part or another, what we mean by "value" depends on who we are. 

When it comes to medical developments, it was an exciting year in the pursuit of what was once impossible. Here are some top picks that genuinely are changing the medical and tech landscape.

The senior senator from Arizona, diagnosed with brain cancer in July, was hospitalized for "normal side effects of his ongoing cancer therapy." Here's what that means.

The FDA really doesn't want you taking pain meds. How strong is the agency's position on this? Pretty strong – enough to recommend that physicians receive extra education in alternative pain management methods. While that's fine in theory, one of the methods happens to be acupuncture, which is not fine at all.

Wasting food, a precious resource, is bad. Does French regulation make for less waste? Or could there be an equally simple free-market solution?
 

Injuries aren't always what they seem, and not all scars and bruises are the same. They can tell a very different story. For instance, are you certain that item you re-tweeted of suspected abuse was actually that?

Like us, so many people in New York love this educational treasure. What we don't love is the pseudoscience junk that we recently found for sale in its gift shop.

For those with celiac disease, everything that enters into their bodies must be assessed for the presence of gluten. A new recommendation from FDA extends this precaution from food ingredients to oral medications. 

Researchers say they have "gained crucial insights" as to the brain's inner-workings and how stuttering manifests itself. This moves the scientific community one step closer to a cure for a condition that affects 1 in 100 adult Americans, and 5 percent of all children for stretches of at least six months. 

As if having Gwyneth Paltrow's "lifestyle" brand in the U.S. isn't bad enough, the company's vaginal egg-lined path now leads north, with products available to be shipped to Canada. Now Canadians, too, will be able to waste a ton of money on GOOP's nonsense.

The Boogyman was a creation used to control children's behavior. That said, it has no role in the debate over public health policy.

A recent study published in Annals of Internal Medicine presents a cost analysis of personalized blood sugar goals for diabetic patients. While its numerical conclusions may not be as precise as the figures would make you believe, it does contain some interesting information.

A recent report identified a flaw in previous research on concussions, while proposing a fix. It's an improved protocol for baseline screening that includes a specific test, which trainers can use themselves to identify dyslexia in their subjects, instead of relying on their possibly inaccurate self-reporting. 

For a civilized nation, we can be mighty uncivilized. If you're a pain patient and cannot get the meds you need, you know this only too well. As Christmas wishes go, how about a return to sanity and compassion where people don't have to beg for relief? We have precious little or either right now. 
 

This year, I don't want you to go to the doctor.
That seems obvious. Most people go to the doctor when they are ill, and I don't want you to be ill or have an accident. But I don't want you go to the doctor even if you are well. 

Ron Swanson, a character from the TV "Parks and Recreation," can teach us valuable, practical lessons about science and culture this holiday season.

As part of regulatory reform, and given the increasing use of computer algorithms in patient care, the Food and Drug Administration released draft guidelines for software use that aids both doctors and their patients.