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It's been more than obvious that, despite what you hear in the news, it is fentanyl – not Vicodin – that's killing tens of thousands each year. But a new article in National Vital Statistics Reports makes this more than obvious. Just as obvious is the horrible damage caused by deeply-flawed policies in the past five years. Here is the smoking gun.

The newfound ability of a watch to detect heart arrhythmias is just one of many forms of algorithmic medicine. That's where computers play an increasing role in identifying problems, and giving medical advice. But algorithms have unique qualities that impact the approval process.

Raccoons certainly exhibit behaviors of both domesticated animals. On the one hand, like dogs, they live in packs. But not always. Raccoons (especially males) go through a phase when they live alone, just like most cats. But actually, this is a trick question. They're more like bears!

People who sign up for golf tips probably aren't looking for bad health advice. Yet, that's exactly what they got – as well as an unhealthy dose of conspiracy theory – in a recent newsletter sent out by Golf Game Tips.

ProPublica, like a dog with a bone, continues to chew at Memorial Sloan Kettering and what the publication feels is the hospital's conflict of Interest. But it's time to put the bone down and have a more honest discussion. Why is one of the world's greatest hospitals still a ProPublica punching bag?

Has the radioactive fallout from Chernobyl created mutant animals? Rich Kozlovich from the
Paradigms and Demographics blog site doesn't think so.

The last season of Game of Thrones is almost upon us. A group of researchers has looked at the chances of dying in the previous seven seasons. Spoiler alert: Do not sell life insurance to prominent, loyal, males.

Screwy medicine is nothing new. Some of what went on 400 years ago makes Joe "Crazy Joe" Mercola seem like Albert Schweitzer. For example, infections were treated (unsuccessfully) with "ointment consisting essentially of the moss on the skull of a man who had died a violent death, combined with boar's and bear's fat, burnt worms, dried boar's brain, red sandal-wood, and mummy." A "real" Joe, Dr. Joe Schwarcz of McGill's OSS, looks at some ancient, and very odd, therapies.

Cigarette smoking is at an all-time low, and secondhand smoke exposure is also collapsing. So some public health officials have manufactured a new threat: Thirdhand smoke.

Should John Oliver decide that he's had enough, there is someone who can slip seamlessly into his seat. Jonathan Jarry - a member of the McGill Office on Science and Society. Jarry, who blames The Boogeyman in different forms, for all of mankind's ailments absolutely obliterates chemophobia and alternative medicine and those who practice it. Brilliant and hilarious. Don't miss.

Instead of paying taxes, non-profit health systems give back to the community. But how much, to which community and who actually benefits is increasingly a divisive issue. Here, the spotlight finds Sutter Health, the seventh largest health system in the United States.

A recent and thorough investigation of the scientific literature found no evidence that chiropractic care can prevent or stop the disease in its early stages. The researchers urged chiropractors to “cease such activities until, if ever, new evidence emerges.” It’s doubtful that chiropractors will follow this advice.

In what can only be described as a purposeful attempt to damage its own poor reputation even further, PETA's latest campaign is to change our "speciesist" language.

How much sleep is enough? Can there be both too little and too much? A new study thinks they have identified that Goldilocks range which is just right.

A new JAMA Internal Medicine study claims that those who get wisdom teeth pulled, and are prescribed opioids, are more likely to have problems with the drug down the road. The numbers may look convincing, but the study is a retrospective analysis –– which is the least reliable type because manipulated variables can change the outcome. Was this the case here? Biostatistician and ACSH advisor Dr. Stan Young (left) weighs in. He is not shy.

If you're a Chinese citizen, don't irritate the Chinese government. Otherwise, you'll be subject to "re-education" and then possibly deployed as a pawn of the regime. Apparently, the Chinese scientist who gene edited a baby is now learning this lesson the hard way.

Chinese President Xi and President Trump are trying to hammer out an agreement to stop fentanyl from flooding into the United States. Whatever they come up with may help, but only so much. In this case, organic chemists have more power than presidents. Here's why.

Plants can be turned into fuels and chemicals, but much of their stored value is lost in the woody component that's hard to break down. A sea creature, among others, has found a way to get at that additional value. It provides both something we can use – and a reminder about the power of nature and evolution.

The interaction of supply and demand is an initial economic lesson. The FDA approves new drug's safety and efficacy. But it's the payers – Medicare and the insurance companies – that determine the true supply. Before we begin to discuss cost, let's first learn about supply.

The Holiday Season is in full swing, and we here at the American Council on Science and Health continue our fight on behalf of good science! Here's where we appeared in recent days.

"No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me." That's ACSH friend Dr. Michael Shaw channeling Proust on the power of smell. Of course, it cuts both ways. Body odor? Why do we have it? Do deodorants work? How about hygiene? Is "old-person smell" real? Just take a sniff of what's in this fascinating piece.

Plenty of art critics can babble on about this or that. But currently, at the Whitney Museum in New York, a Warhol show is getting rave, babbling reviews. Partly because the flamboyant artist urinated on some of his work. His pee – and that of others, ewww – caused copper paint to turn color. Others can babble about art, but only we at ACSH dare to explain the pop-art power of pee. Call it what you will, anything that is except yellow journalism.

What makes a patient chose not to undergo treatment, a decision that can reduce the risk of cancer by upwards to 30%? Facts or beliefs? (And another thing: Why do we pay so much attention to that homunculus jabbering away in our heads?)

The plaintiffs claim that Ocean Spray lied about not using artificial flavors, and the only restitution is for the company to hand over a big bag of money. How big? Very big. They want a jury to award them "statutory, compensatory, treble, and punitive damages." That's all due to a technicality that hasn't affected their lives one iota.

Conventional wisdom tells us that 10,000 steps per day is the "magic number" required for health benefits. But is there sound evidence behind this number? Dr. Christopher Labos, from McGill University’s Office for Science and Society, investigates.