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Whether one is sick or well, the end of life tends to have its own unique story and reaction. There can be sudden deaths of less surprise to us than the final act of an unrelenting terminal disease. But why are we almost always a bit surprised to learn of someone's death?

The website ProPublica would have you believe that lunches or speaker fees physicians received from Big Pharma are gifts, requiring something in return. But in this holiday season, we should consider the meaning of gifts -- and realize that the current-affairs watchdog is barking up the wrong tree.

Marketing normal development manufactures a problem in need of a solution, which typically appears in the form of an expensive product. As a result, the vulnerability and fears of new parents get most exploited.

Sociologists have studied the diffusion of ideas and knowledge for decades. A new study shows that the eminence of the source has a greater impact than the quality of the idea. That makes the rich richer -- and society poorer.

Anyone who believes that vaccines cause autism shouldn't be in a position of authority. The fundamental problem with someone making such a claim is not that s/he is wrong. Instead, it reveals someone who's conspiratorially minded and lacks critical thinking skills. That's not the sort of person who should be in charge of anything important.

There’s an increasing concern among scholars that, in many areas of science, famous published results tend to be impossible to reproduce.

Have you started your Christmas and/or holiday shopping? If you're like us, you're putting it off to the last minute – because you're too busy with other things. Here at ACSH, we've been busy telling the world about science. Here's where we've appeared recently.

When science and money mix, science suffers. The pressure to publish and get grant money has corrupted researchers, who must "publish or perish" and get grants. This unholy alliance between the popular media and scholarly publications spawned the never-ending flow of sensationalistic results, especially those pertaining to human health effects.

When bundled with enforcement, reducing the legal limit on a driver's blood alcohol level is considered a best practice. However, on its own, the tactic doesn't seem to have much of an impact.

Many Americans hold beliefs about the flu vaccine that are at odds with the best available scientific evidence. For example, a recent study found that 43 percent of Americans believe that the seasonal flu vaccine can give us the flu. Scientific research strongly suggests that this is not true. Because most modern flu shots do not contain a live virus, the shot itself simply cannot get us sick.

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.