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With all of the products that can be custom-made these days, why not condoms? Given the rampant fit-and-feel complaints of many men, will these new offerings actually reverse the declining trend of consistent condom use? 

This is what the CDC is proposing because binge drinkers tend to abuse opioids. But that makes no sense. It would be like adding a special tax to automobiles because some people drive them at 100 mph.

What happens when a family leads a "plastic-free" life for two months? You may be surprised.

Our recent report on the role of beef in the American diet noted some beef benefits, but that didn't please everyone. Below is a prime example of how some of beef's detractors react to such news but we will not be cowed.
Responses:
February 11, 2003

Russia's decades-old propaganda machine is vast and vicious. Its goal is to damage the health and prosperity of the country's adversaries, especially the United States.

The mixture of celebrity and health information is becoming commonplace. Combatting misinformation is more difficult when amplified by large platforms. Adding to that the chaos of irresponsible media coverage, and you have a good formula for isolating experts.

When we share our thoughts on science as well as our research efforts, the collective good is not well-served if we're speaking only to those who already share our perspective. And specifically, If we cannot convince our own colleagues that there's a serious and growing threat to their ability to continue to treat bacterial infections, then we cannot expect governments to believe us either. That has to change.

With the press flooded with futuristic phantasms of using CRISPR-Cas 9 to genetically engineer "designer" children -- by creating human-induced hereditable mutations -- it's easy to lose sight of ethical, legal, and moral issues arising from currently existing technology. Will we be tempted to "improve" our genetic destiny, and who decides which improvements to make? And who gets them? Are we mature enough as a society to eschew decisions leading to claims of eugenic determinism? And what about the social justice concerns?

Due to consumer concerns about the impact of commercial animal production on climate change, sustainable development, and animal welfare, biotech companies are racing to produce meat outside the realm of animal husbandry.  Cultured meat (CM), produced artificially in a bioreactor for human or pet consumption, is both the new commercial food frontier and the darling of venture capitalists. Can biotech companies deliver as promised, or are they blowing smoke at their investors and misleading the public? 

Adderall, one of the primary drugs to treat ADHD, has been in the news lately because of a shortage. But there are a number of different ADHD drugs that contain amphetamine – the active ingredient in Adderall. Perhaps this will help clarify what's going on.

DISPATCH 6/27/08: Lying Brains, Silent Strokes, Unsafe Sex, and Rotavirus Vaccines

"I confess, that nothing frightens me more than the appearance of mushrooms on the table."
--Alexandre Dumas

A recent paper in JAMA Internal Medicine was essentially little more than a hit piece on physicians. The authors claim that doctors will write prescriptions for more expensive drugs if they attend a seminar about that drug, and get a cheap meal. But the only thing cheap here is the standards of the authors. Their paper is a travesty.

DISPATCH: Hunger, Mercury, Alcohol, Smoke, and Toenails
Norman Borlaug's op-ed on the fight against hunger

The first half of 2004 has brought some weird health news. Whether good, bad, or ambiguous, these items are all worth noting:

You can be blindfolded, throw a stone, and probably hit a writer who gets the opioid crisis all wrong. Today, let's throw one at German Lopez of The New York Times.

The recipe for good public health policy is like a souffle- simple ingredients combined in a complex manner. Done well - it’s a delight. Heavy-handed, using sour (outdated) ingredients – it’s a mess, even toxic.

Testimony to the New York City Council on the question of whether to tighten lead regulations, given June 23, 2003:
The ACSH is a public-health consumer-education organization, advised by a panel of 350 scientists and physicians. All of our work is peer-reviewed internally and published in independent, peer-reviewed scientific journals. We are about to celebrate our twenty-fifth year of promoting public health, here in New York and around the U.S.

The EPA recently completed a draft health assessment on Chromium-VI that is causing controversy in the scientific community because it concludes that Chromium-VI is likely to cause cancer through drinking water. This conclusion is at odds with EPA’s previous assessments, much of the scientific literature, and assessments by other countries, including Canada.

With alternative medicine growing in popularity, skeptics should pay attention to the arguments used to promote it. The arguments sometimes attack basic assumptions about scientific procedure.

The activist group Slow Food recently published a listicle warning consumers about the dangers of pesticides. Let's see if their top-10 list stands up to scrutiny.

From the same folks who instigated the class action litigation over Zantac, we now have a new class action suit – this one claiming that dry shampoos contain dangerous levels of benzene, a known carcinogen.

You know, I've been feeling awfully tired lately. I haven't been sleeping well, and when I do sleep, I grind my teeth. Also, I'm feeling slightly nervous, forgetting minor details, and eating more than usual but not gaining weight. Should I be worried? According to the November 2002 issue of Secrets of Robust Health promoted as a "health newsletter for the thinking person," I should. Divulging information "you will probably never hear from your family doctor"(with good reason, as we'll see), the newsletter claims that all of my symptoms point to the same culprit: a parasite.

Beauty and personal care products are a vast industry, for both women and men. In 2019, the personal care products industry generated sales of $49.2 billion in the U.S., and $380 billion globally. Women spend an average of $35/month, while men spend an average of $29/mo. Some believe these products pose significant risks to our health. Is this another case of a big fear and little risk?

DISPATCH: Environmentalists, Budget-Planners, and Candidates
Quote of the day:
Patrick Moore, one of the founders of Greenpeace, said, "But I later learned that the environmental movement is not always guided by science. As we celebrate Earth Day, this is a good lesson to keep in mind." --the _Wall Street Journal_, April 22, 2008.
Earth Day
Happy Earth Day! There are many stories in the news about the environment and what impact we have on it and vice versa.