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We visit the dentist almost as much as we see physicians. But insurance coverage for dental care for many of us is non-existent. Congress is quietly, to this point, thinking of changing that situation.

The logistics of returns, Disney, and nuclear power – “Our Friend, the Atom,” and the fine immunologic line that is pregnancy.

October 16th was designated "Ether Day" in 1906 in celebration of one of the most important discoveries in history. Read this and you'll get some fascinating history about ether and also another hideous chapter in The Dread Chemistry Lesson From Hell series. How can you not?

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.

Some scientists say we need tighter gene-editing regulations to mitigate the serious risks associated with the technology. There are some critical flaws in their argument.

A lot has been written about the strengths and weaknesses of using DNA testing to customize individual diets. It's a promising idea, but our knowledge of genetics isn't yet good enough to pinpoint what each of us should eat.

Antiviral drug development for COVID-19 took a back seat to vaccines during the brief time – when we thought that ending the pandemic was simply a matter of getting enough needles in enough arms. But the virus had other ideas: variants. Now it's looking like we may need a drug to complement the vaccines. Three are in development. Here's a look at Pfizer's PF-07321332. It should work, but don't hold me to that.

Wanna hear something crazy? Fentanyl test strips are FDA-approved to quickly test for the presence of the dangerous drug in the urine in overdose cases. They can also be used to check for fentanyl in street drugs and counterfeit pills. But in more than 40 states, this is illegal (!). Why? Because they are considered to be drug paraphernalia. Seriously. Good luck finding any policy or law dumber than this.

TV commercials are vile and profoundly irritating. Perhaps none is more so than the ad for Xiaflex – a drug that can straighten your bent penis. I cannot possibly describe how much I want to throw a brick through the TV when that idiotic bent carrot shows up at dinnertime. That, plus other rants! Proudly presented in poor taste.

The story of what we call the "opioid epidemic" has been distorted by lies and deception, resulting in incalculable harm done to both pain patients and those who abuse drugs. The last thing we need is more anti-opioid propaganda. Unfortunately, an article in Healthline provides just this

Shane Ellison, the self-proclaimed "People's Chemist," has a lot to say about chemistry, drugs, and vaccines. Let's see if he knows what he's talking about.

Remdesivir, an antiviral drug with the potential to treat COVID, has been largely ignored since its "introduction" to the world at the beginning of COVID. It just didn't seem to work very well. But data from a Phase 3 trial by Gilead was a surprise. The drug, when given to COVID patients in a non-hospital setting, did a very good job of keeping them out of the hospital. Here's a summary of the clinical data.

The vast majority of Americans don't trust the media to "report the news fully, accurately and fairly," according to a new Gallup poll. Let's examine some recent examples that may help explain why the public is so skeptical of journalists.

Pfizer's Paxlovid looks very promising in fighting COVID. It also provides a good opportunity to learn about how enzyme inhibitors work. For masochists only.

Around 7,000 individuals are bitten by snakes annually in the US, with only the tiniest fractions (0.02%) dying – others suffer amputations or continuing disability. [1] Snake anti-venom is largely responsible for saving these individuals. But as with many problems, snake bites are a “neglected” disease elsewhere in our world.

Kudos to Dr. Josh Bloom for persistently and valiantly beating the drum against blaming prescription opiates for the “opioid epidemic.” Sometimes battling windmills isn’t for naught.

Remember when the term "designer drug" was used in the 1980s? One of the drugs included in that group was called 3-methylfentanyl, aka, mefentanyl. Although not widely used, it killed groups of people who tried it. Fast forward 4 decades and it's now one of the 30 fentanyl analogs that are responsible for the fentanyl crisis. And it's also one of the worst. What a difference a methyl group can make.

There is no doubt that raising the price of sugary beverages by increasing the tax reduces consumption. A new study once again looks at how price impacts demand. Whether this reduction in consumption has the desired outcome of improving health remains unknown and frankly unstudied.

Those were the words of Christian Dior, who may have recognized a connection between the volatiles around us and our behavior. As a parent and now grandfather, I must agree with my wife; there is something special about sniffing an infant's head. Is it something they release or that we have applied, like baby shampoo? A new study suggests an evolutionary role for the smell of an infant.

The last month has divided conventional wisdom. If cases continue to decline, the pandemic might be on its way out. If they trend upward, another winter surge might be on its way. Here we look for clues from data [1] through November 15, focusing on vaccination.

Can avoiding certain foods reduce your dementia risk? One nutritional psychiatrist seems to think so, but the evidence is much messier than it looks at first glance.

I immigrated to the U.S. in February 2020, not knowing that going back home would not be easy. Two weeks later, international travel was banned due to an unpredicted outbreak of COVID-19, and I was trapped ...

There are chemistry teachers all over the U.S. that know this simple truth: chemistry matters in everyday life. Nothing demonstrates this principle more than when you look back at the lead water crisis in Flint, Michigan.

I’ve written several times about taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages. While the public health goal has always been to reduce obesity, nearly every publication has looked at the effect of taxes and the subsequent higher prices on purchasing those drinks. Today, we finally have some research on how well those taxes reduce our weight; we already know they reduce the weight in our wallets.

Fear porn, humane “washing” food labels, catching up with Sisyphus, junk food diets - for plants