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Tired of getting "The Pharmacist Death Stare" every time you pick up a controlled drug? Do you have to beg for a bottle of Klonipin? Pill Puritanism got you down? Well, let's take a tour of "The Amazing Drug Shop!" Quite the place indeed!

The war on pain patients and the doctors who treat them continues, the latest volley being fired by Congress. Cato Institute's Dr. Jeffrey Singer tells us about how the DEA, with the backing of lawmakers, is able to continue its ridiculous campaign that makes opioid prescribing even more difficult for physicians.

A former boss often used the phrase, “ideas have consequences.”
In the 1960s and 1970s, America saw a rise in junk science and fearmongering. Because of this, three highly respected experts: Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug (the “Father of the Green Revolution”), Dr. Frederick Stare (founder of the Nutrition Department at Harvard School of Public Health), and Dr. Elizabeth Whelan (noted epidemiologist, nutrition expert and author of 23 books)created the American Council on Science and Health.

The December 19 Consumer Reports headline, “Lead and Cadmium Could be in Your Dark Chocolate,” has chocoholics everywhere in great pain. But a closer look at the article shows that you may not have to give up your guilty pleasure.

Ghosts of Science - love science, not the scientist?
Twitter as Townsquare – a broken metaphor?
Twins – Identical or Similar?
Sesame and penicillin

I read scientific articles for a living. They are frequently needlessly complex and have a stilted style about them. Evidently, communication through the written word is not part of scientists’ training. It should be.

The EPA's intransigent regulation of genetically engineered bacteria that could mitigate frost damage to crops prevented their commercialization. Especially when inflation is boosting food prices, the last thing we need is the continuation of an irresponsible, unscientific government policy that lowers crop yields, increases prices to consumers, and threatens farmers’ profits.

"Peer review" of scientific articles before publication is often considered the "gold standard" of reliability, but its luster has become tarnished by greed – the desire of the research community to tap into research funds, the pressure on scientists to publish or perish, and publishers of scientific journals seeking to maximize profits. 

2022- A year when law and public health got really tangled. We had the Supreme Court deal with abortion, gun control, and mandatory vaccination. Internationally, euthanasia laws burgeoned.  Some states enacted laws to protect the rights of children born by fraudulent misuse of IVF, and courts addressed the question of proving causation in toxic tort cases.

Let’s continue our countdown of the top articles written by ACSH this year.

It is that time of the year, between Christmas and New Year's, when journalists’ thoughts, including ourselves, turn to vacation. As a result, there are any number of listicles touting the top 10, hundred, or five. We are not immune. Here are our most-read articles this year.

This has been a particularly notable year for me. I had a near-death experience and learned the joys of those who spend more time at doctors than they would like. I also had a chance to share some science and opinions with you, our readers. That makes me twice blessed.

The data comes primarily from the CDC’s injury and mortality reports from 1990 to 2021. Here are some highlights.

Part 1 of this two-part series described the “Stanford University paradox” – the uncritical embrace of politically correct concepts that contradict its reputation as a cutting-edge, science-grounded institution. I described the contrast between the university’s outstanding research and its dubious view of “sustainability,” which includes a commitment to organic farming practices. I elaborate on the latter here, in Part 2.

Stanford University harbors a profound paradox. It boasts superb research in academic departments but often uncritically embraces politically correct trends that contradict its reputation as a cutting-edge, science-grounded institution.

Drought plagues much of the Western U.S. and its water woes are severe and worsening, threatening residents' prosperity and quality of life. But the problem isn't supply; it's distribution. We have a way to remedy it.

Dreary, despondent headlines about pollution and climate change are the norm. But they are not painting an accurate picture. Many countries are making serious efforts to protect the environment. Human ingenuity is the ultimate resource. My latest over at BigThink.

Sweden has been the poster child of the live-free-or-die, no-lockdown crowd. The Great Barrington Declaration has its roots in the Swedish response. But beyond those snippets, what actually took place there? It is time for many of us, including myself, to find out.

Peer review is a failure
Methane rising
The Trolley Problem has multicultural answers
Heating with Nukes

Men will often be boys. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the design of public urinals, where through a moment of frivolity or inattention, the stream goes in a pathway resulting in splashes on the wall and clothing. Physicists attempt to help.

Discrimination in the workplace is terrible. Some forms involving gender, or race, are more readily identified than others. This preprint, under peer review, suggests that attractiveness can be discriminative too. Ugly need not apply.

People who take oxycodone need to be careful when also taking antifungal drugs or drinking grapefruit juice. Why? Because both the juice and the drug can result in abnormally high, perhaps dangerously so, oxycodone blood levels. The same goes for fentanyl. But people taking morphine or Dilaudid don't have to worry; neither the juice nor the antifungal drug will have a significant effect on the opioid levels. Believe it or not, this all makes sense.

The Biden Administration's attempt to boost the "bioeconomy" is burdened with bureaucratic requirements and busy-work initiatives and projects. It will fail.

How physicians communicate with their peers and their patients has come under more scrutiny of late. Patient access to “open” notes has raised concern about physicians using hurtful terms. A new paper considers the problem of physicians communicating with their patients unconsciously using jargon that obstructs rather than facilitates understanding.

Homogeneous urban counties tend to yield more precise relationships than entire states in geographic analysis. Here we updated the urban data through November 2022, comprising a total population of about 131 million. Our analysis focused on recent trends in daily death and infection (case) rates based on monthly averages.