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We expect physicians to give us scientifically sound advice on health. But some have taken the low road, leaving medicine for a career of quackery and self-promotion.

Someday, everybody will be wearing smart clothes. Not just clothes that look dapper, but ones that sense the environment and the body's vital signs, before pinging the data to your wristwatch or doctor. To get there, we'll need functional fabrics, and nothing beats the touch and feel of cotton.

A new study in the British Medical Journal suggests that the majority of new cancer drugs approved by the European Medicines Agency lacked evidence that they improved survival or the quality of life of patients.

Can it be? What your mother ate when she was pregnant with you is the cause of your binge drinking? According to this study, yes, but she had to be a vegetarian or at least eat "healthy." Alright, consider us officially confused.

As the final weeks of her pregnancy approach, ACSH's Ana Dolaskie shares why the last month is the hardest, and perhaps the most rewarding.

Here's some of what we've been up to over the last seven days, trying to change hearts and minds.

Heartburn, what heartburn? Backaches? Step aside. Of all the dreadful pregnancy symptoms ACSH's Ana Dolaskie thought she would endure, she didn't see this one coming. That is, until now.

The agency just gave the green light to Pear Pharmaceuticals, which developed reSet, a digital device that delivers therapy assistance to those suffering from cocaine, marijuana, alcohol or stimulant abuse. It is not intended to be a standalone approach, but rather used in conjunction with standard outpatient addiction therapy.

Gatorade needs a better marketing team. A very curious advertisement contained a diagram of an organic molecule that, if it actually existed, would probably be dangerous. You certainly wouldn't be drinking it.

The increasing concern about the role of p values in science has gone from a murmur to a loudly expressed concern. Is this just an insider's argument or is it a matter we should take seriously?

Over-the-counter drugs – especially for coughs, colds and insomnia – are routinely combined with pain medications. This is usually unnecessary and possibly dangerous. So why are these drugs in there? It's due to unethical marketing by drug companies. Not cool, guys. 

Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. Finding it early can vastly improve the chances for successful treatment, but screening rates are low, even though screening is known to be effective. But if people are reminded to be screened, or are sent in-home tests, the screening rates improve. 

It is easy to see how the peer review process has flaws. How to fix those flaws is a bit more difficult. However, at the "Peer Review Congress" a group of scientists meets every four years to do just that, when they consider ongoing problems with the quality and credibility of science and discuss potential improvements. 

In the 1970s, there was the Ford Pinto and Nehru jackets. In the 80s, pet rocks and the mullet. Since then we've been treated to house flipping, speed dating, Honey Boo Boo, and gluten-free everything. Pretty dumb, no? Not when compared to making your own prescription drugs at home. That's *really* dumb. And real. Sort of. 

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? 

Genes in three different pathways were differentially expressed between veterans who attempted suicide and those who had not. One of the genetic pathways that showed substantial disruption is known as mTOR, the dysregulation of which has been previously linked to major depressive disorder.

Jockeys race thunderously in tight packs at 30 miles an hour on 1,000-pound thoroughbreds – every day – and sometimes frightening spills occur. So it seems reasonable to ask whether progress in concussion prevention is also taking place at the track, as it is in other sports. Climb aboard and give this a read.

Another underwater birth, another near-fatal consequence. This time the imperiled, septic newborn endured unnecessary multi-organ failure, which necessitated a two-month hospitalization in intensive care.

Actor Sean Hayes of television’s Will & Grace fame disclosed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show his recent health scare. His "small intestine burst open." Learn more about gastrointestinal perforations here.

Philadelphia has opted to tax sugar-sweetened beverages, which, one might expect, will raise the price consumers must pay. But at the city's airport, at least, stores that aren't in the taxation area also raised their prices.
 

A recent article in Newsweek would have you believe that you're being poisoned by pesticides on apples. But you're not. It's just another example of "scare by omission of dose." Nothing new here. Nothing to worry about either. 

Isn't it odd that Florida has so many people living with Alzheimer's? If Erin Brockovich was investigating the case, she probably would conclude that it's something to do with the water.

What's the best state in which to practice medicine? Though a recent study does little to answer the question given the metrics chosen, the result provides a starting point to help guide your thinking on this subject.

In a fundraiser turned deadly, the folks of Columbia, Louisiana received a lot more than they signed up for.  The likely culprit was determined to be Salmonella contamination of Jambalaya.

A visit to the chiropractor may include an unnecessary X-ray. One chiropractic association vehemently defends this practice and considers any questioning of it by medical personnel a "needless affront to the profession." We suggest that patients should question whether non-essential X-rays at the chiropractor are wise to have done.