The false narrative that prescription drugs caused the opioid crisis has been relentlessly undermined by evidence to the contrary, yet it remains. It may have suffered a ding here and there, but it's still mostly intact. But if evidence really matters, Dr. Jeffrey Singer just gave it another ding. Maybe even a dent. From 2019.
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As the election drew closer, several scientific journals took the unprecedented step of endorsing a Presidential candidate. The cries of "politics polluting science" are met by equally vociferous shouts of "It's about time. Make the madness stop." As with many beliefs, the Age of COVID requires the relationship between science and politics to be rediscovered and refashioned.
Washington State Governor Jay Inslee has canceled Thanksgiving as part of a new COVID lockdown. The Grinch of Whoville couldn't have created a better policy.
Opposition to the use of biotechnology to enhance agriculture was always based on junk science. But now these anti-GMO activists look downright silly as cutting-edge biomedical science rescues us from COVID.
We got some very good news in the past week. Vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna greatly exceeded expectations. But Drs. Seley-Radtke and Bloom argue in the Duluth News Tribune that antiviral drugs will still be needed, no matter how good the vaccines are.
COVID-19 has brought supply chains more prominently into our lives. Those include getting toilet paper onto store shelves, assuring take-out food gets delivered, as well as deliveries being made during the Christmas season. And the first COVID-19 wave revealed our Strategic National Stockpile cupboards were mostly bare. (Spoiler Alert: The "why" has far more to do with logistics than political affiliation.)
To reduce payments to doctors by device manufacturers and pharma companies, the federal government instituted a regulatory policy, the Sunshine Act, in 2013. The goal was to allow the disinfecting nature of transparency to reduce the ethical problem of obligation when receiving "gifts." Two reports update how that battle seems to be going.
Pfizer's vaccine is based on RNA, which is a very unstable molecule that is prone to breaking down. Storing it at -94° F prevents this, but it creates the logistical difficulty of transporting the vaccine.
A study by a group from the Mayo Clinic in Arizona focuses on making it easier to dispose of unused opioid pills. I would argue that we need better disposal methods for opioids like a fulminating case of crabs. Here are both sides of the debate.
Should people who were given propofol be allowed to drive home? Are men drivers better or worse than women? Some ghastly chemistry poetry, and one of the funniest YouTube videos ever. Oh, to answer the original question: it's impossible to tell from this study. Here's why.
I've been writing about the barbaric war against pain patients since 2013. Despite the hundreds of desperate emails I've received, and the stories I've read, it has never entirely hit home. Until now. My very elderly mom is being put through the wringer, in order to get some tramadol for back pain. If this doesn't demonstrate the colossal stupidity of our drug laws, nothing does.
The American media focuses on the failures to control the coronavirus in this country, but a larger perspective shows that the virus is out of control in much of the world, especially in Europe. Some other countries are doing worse than the U.S., at least for the time being.
Since 1986, the federal government has tracked vaccines' adverse effects through the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS. It's a post-approval mechanism that captures any adverse event reported to it.
Fear is a strong motivator; it is the basis of ‘Fight or Flight.” Long before the Florida business shutdown was declared, many self-anointed, at-risk individuals voluntarily stayed home. So what role does fear play in COVID-19 era? And specifically, to what degree is fear driving our behavior?
The transformation of Hong Kong, less illuminated scientific pioneers, the many social distance circles, can you believe your lying eyes, and a mysterious ether holding the universe together - scientists call it dark matter.
The latest polling by the Pew Research Center shows that 60% of Americans are willing to get vaccinated to guard against COVID-19. That's based on a representative sample of Americans polled after the announcements by both Pfizer and Moderna. Here's a breakdown of who's willing to line up, based upon some demographics.
Vaccines have advantages over natural infections. For one, they can be designed to focus the immune system against specific antigens that elicit better responses.
The COVID vaccine is out -- and no one needs it more than the elderly. But vaccines don't work as well in older people. A group at Oxford is trying to address this by adding a simple (but nasty-smelling) naturally-occurring chemical that makes damaged cells eat themselves.
Those who favor indefinite lockdowns believe they have the moral high ground. They do not. In reality, they callously turn a blind eye to the economic and social devastation that their policy is causing.
Do you want to detox your body? If so, perhaps you'll want to try the Pure(TM) Detox Foot Bath. Its maker claims that for a mere 130 bucks you can purge your body of toxins that come out (through your feet) looking suspiciously like a super-sized portion of diarrhea. Can this possibly be true? Keep reading.
Until a few moments ago, I, too, had been a victim of "tl,dr." In fact, I had the disease but did not know its name. Tl,dr is an acronym to “Too long, didn’t read.” Admit it, you have suffered from the same malady, but help is on the way.
Not literally, but figuratively. Journalism's rule of thumb is true; bad news sells, and courtesy of a new study, we have some numbers to back that claim up. What we don’t know is why we prefer the negative over the positive.
Sixth nerve palsy simply means paralysis of the sixth cranial nerve. What causes it, and can it be fixed? My dad is about to find out.
After Pfizer's COVID vaccine was administered in the UK, two allergic reactions surfaced. Who’s to blame? The drug maker? I argue no. Pfizer could not possibly have known in advance whether these reactions would occur or, if so, how frequently. Why's that? Here's why.
Just how effective is the Pfizer vaccine? Turns out that in addition to being very effective, the onset of protection is quick - a therapeutic two-fer.
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