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Vical continues to push its VCL-HB01  herpes vaccine through development. Larry Smith, Ph.D., the senior VP of Research, answers some questions about where things stand now and what to expect in the near future. 

A major thread in public policy debates about the opioid crisis is an asserted need to “solve” it by limiting production of opioid analgesics, and reducing medical exposure to potentially addicting drugs. But will these steps produce a remedy? Will our addiction and overdose problems improve with such a one-size-fits-all policy? Almost certainly not.

The World Health Organization wants global views on trans-fats. It remains common in middle and lower income countries and what to do remains a problem, After all, the devil is in the details.

It's dangerous being livestock. If you aren't being fattened up to be turned into a Happy Meal, you're wandering the fields, gobbling up plants that appear tasty and innocent – but are actually toxic. Plant poisonings cost the livestock industry more than $500 million every year.

Sepsis, sometimes inaccurately referred to as blood poisoning, is sparked by the body’s reaction to infection. Between 12 and 25 percent of patients with sepsis will die during hospitalization. Sepsis contributes to one-third to one-half of all in-hospital deaths.

States and councils around Australia have been struggling since the imposition of import restrictions that exclude 99% of the recyclables that the country previously sold to China. Hopes are high that the federal government will step in and take a clear role.

Nature is amazing. When potatoes go bad they sometimes turn green and produce a potent neurotoxin. But the chemical that's responsible for the green is chlorophyll, which is anything but toxic. How does the green color indicate that the potato is bad? 

Do physicians act differently when their patient outcomes are reported publicly? Some studies say yes and others no. Now, a new study adds to the confusion. 

In the grand tradition of misidentifying problems and offering proposals that won’t work, the city council of Washington, D.C. wants to force manufacturers of flushable toilet wipes to change the label to “non-flushable.” This is wrong.

"Methylene chloride is arguably the most dangerous of all the solvents sold at Home Depot," one of ASCH's experts says. Given the assessments, we believe this happens to be an instance where EPA concern is warranted.

This allergy test, a sometimes unpleasant childhood right of passage, may be a thing of the past someday. New research shows that a urine test can determine if a person has an allergy to a specific substance.

Though well-intentioned, "at all costs" breastfeeding messages are routinely misguided. And even intellectually dishonest.

Dr. Michael Dourson, who sits on ACSH's Board of Scientific Advisors, discusses changes at the EPA. He notes the public interest is best served when science is replicable, and when it's not access to underlying data is vital to independent analysis. Without quality risk assessment, we can't create effective national regulations.

Shaming and blaming isn't part of improving patient safety or resolving the opioid crisis. Healthcare workers and Congress frequently blame others and rarely take personal responsibility, and that's not a culture that fosters reflection and meaningful improvement.  

If integrative medicine wants to be taken seriously, then they need to provide data obtained from actual scientific studies. There is no complementary science.  

Walmart apparently has some big plans for its pharmacies and it will involve you. A whistleblower document from the company reveals what steps it will take to (wrongly) address the overuse of painkillers. You will be graded on your probability of misusing not just opiate drugs, but also sedatives and stimulants. Since when does Walmart tell our doctors what they can or cannot give to their patients? 

The FDA is going after the most egregious violators of common sense: those who are clearly targeting children. To name and shame the bad actors who are doing a great harm to legitimate smoking cessation efforts, we offer them up here. Take a look; it's truly shameful.

Carey Gillam is a well-known anti-GMO activist who rejects the scientific consensus, regularly reports easily provable lies, and works for an organization that gets most of its money from 9/11 truthers.

Perhaps at some point, dietary supplement fans are going to wonder why they spent so much money on a bunch of stuff which ended up being useless. Regarding omega-3 fatty acid supplements from fish, and whether they have any impact on fatal heart attacks, nonfatal heart attacks, strokes, the results are in. Effectiveness: zilch.

The FDA used Tipping Point Analysis to show that an important study of cholesterol-lowering medications is incorrect. So who got it wrong? The FDA or the New England Journal of Medicine, which peer-reviewed the work?

The stories told by patients with Alzheimer's Disease show us how entwined memory is with our sociability. 

A study of the dietary preferences of dogs and cats show distinct differences when palatability is constant. Are there lessons for us about our eating choices?

The University of California, San Francisco is hosting documents acquired by anti-chemical, anti-pharmaceutical, and anti-biotech activists. This is not "transparency" but propaganda. Taxpayer-funded propaganda.

Seven years ago, the global public health community declared the eradication of rinderpest, a severe viral disease of cattle. But today, Bulgaria says it's dealing with an outbreak of ovine rinderpest. They are two different, but closely related, viruses. Here's some insight into what we know.

Cosmic rays are the largest source of radiation exposure associated with flying, and it may have health impacts on flight crews. A new study suggests that the risk of cancer may be increased, but "may" is the operative word. As for the flying public, there should be no concern.