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Remdesivir arrived with great hope and even greater expectations. Would this drug finally awake us from the 2-plus-month long nightmare that has the U.S. tossing and turning in its sleep? As things stand now that answer is no. Here's why.

Do genetics play a role in COVID-19's outcomes, does the herd know better than the experts, Chinese censorship, regulations can hamper even if well intended, and finally why many of us are gardening and what might a careful listener hear from plants?

Remdesivir appears to be our first promising treatment for COVID-19. It is certainly neither a cure nor a preventative. But it seems to reduce the length of hospital stays, and thus, increases the health systems’ capacity by about a third. So if you were in charge of selling this drug, what price would you set?

Media headlines are almost exclusively about the coronavirus death toll and the debate over whether it's too early to begin lifting lockdown restrictions. However, there are several other observations about COVID-19 that are important, but are getting very little attention.

Open carry means that you may legally carry a loaded weapon visibly on your person. The top photo is over fifty years old, depicting the "Black Panthers"; the bottom picture from last week depicting citizens protesting continued stay-in-place orders.

Once again, from the frontline of COVID-19's war on the elderly, a follow-up diary covering recent thoughts of two of our seniors. They are heroes in their own way.

With only one truly critical story constantly on everyone's mind -- what might that be? -- ACSH's health and scientific experts were singularly focused on getting timely, accurate information to the screens of the American public. The masses of the media took note. Our work on the pandemic was cited in major newspapers, by radio show hosts and disseminated across the internet (along with some other more pedestrian topics). Here are just a few of the top media hits for April.

For the most part, supplements are a waste of money at best and harmful at worst. But could vitamin D be a notable exception – now more than ever? Let's take a look.

Sometime, hopefully in the not too distant future, we will need to look at how this tragedy unfolded and come to grips with what we could have done to make it, at least, somewhat less tragic. The fact that several countries and societies were able to escape the worst of the pandemic provides us with opportunities to learn and to act.

"Track and Trace" is the latest COVID-19 catchphrase. It describes the process of identifying the ill and exposed, which then can make it safer for us to mingle socially once again. As a program gets underway in the U.S., what lessons can we learn from Asia?

Drugs that don't work when taken orally are the bane of drug discovery chemists. Now it's the bane of the world. But there are techniques that can convert orally inactive drugs, like remdesivir, into pills. Here's how they work.

Niche; it can be described as a comfortable, suitable position in life, the equipoise of resources and competition. Having one’s niche, it sounds so comforting; having a special place in the world. COVID-19 may have temporarily disrupted our niche, but climate change could drastically re-alter it.

How would we respond differently if another outbreak happened?

The death toll from the coronavirus will place COVID-19 in the top 10 causes of death in the United States in 2020, possibly as high as #3. Yet, it likely will remain far behind the deaths caused by heart disease and cancer.

After months of speculation, the results of the first placebo-controlled trial of remdesivir are out. The drug does help people with COVID-19 disease, but it's nothing to get excited about. Here's why.

The first data from the SIMPLE trial of remdesivir has been released by Gilead. Even though this is the first complete trial of the drug, it doesn't answer many questions. That's because there was no control group – something that would have been unethical for the trial participants since they had severe disease. We're just getting started.

COVID-19 has exposed fault lines in our healthcare system, often problems that physicians and nurses have been pointing out, to no avail, for years. New York City's mayor announced a plan to modify grading due to COVID-19 ignoring the fact that many of the school's graduates have significant functional illiteracies. The courts in Michigan are finally stepping up to address the real issues. Miasma is responsible for COVID-19's infectability. And finally, reshaping the economy involves more than a stronger safety net.

"A bully pulpit is a conspicuous position that provides an opportunity to speak out and be listened to. This term was coined by United States President Theodore Roosevelt, who referred to his office as a "bully pulpit", by which he meant a terrific platform from which to advocate an agenda. Roosevelt used the word bully as an adjective meaning "superb" or "wonderful", a more common usage at that time." -- Wikipedia

Much remains unknown about the coronavirus. A new paper published in The Lancet estimates that roughly 60% of the population needs to be immune to COVID-19 to achieve herd immunity.

The general belief is that COVID-19’s harms fall disproportionately upon the frail, as well as the classes and groups that often find themselves holding the short end of the stick: the poor and minorities. What makes these groups so susceptible? Let's take a look.

What's worse, flying American Airlines or camping out in a Greyhound's bus bathroom during National Projectile Vomiting Day? Ask Erin Strine. American recently stuffed her, and a whole bunch of other people, into a flying incubator. It wasn't pretty.

Many politicians insist that they will "follow the science" in regard to reopening the economy. But the COVID-19 pandemic has placed us in uncharted territory with few relevant precedents to guide policymaking. Therefore, "Follow the science," is indistinguishable from, "Do what I say." This doesn't prevent activist websites like Undark from smearing reputable scientists who speak out in disagreement.

New York's Mount Sinai hospital reports that several patients under age 50 have suffered from COVID-19-associated strokes from blood clots. Other anecdotal and small-series reports have shown increased clotting in COVID-19 patients, often ending in death. What's going on here? Let's take a look.

It's pretty clear by now that the statistics on COVID-19 are a hot mess. One news report quoted Betsy McCaughey, New York's former lieutenant governor, characterizing nursing homes as "death pits." Is the underlying problem something we should have known, or already measured? Or is this another healthcare disparity that we have chosen to ignore, which COVID-19 subsequently revealed? Let's take a look.

Since Covid-19 infection carries with it a crushing immunocompromise, it is important to recognize that the most common global reason of immunodeficiency is malnutrition and that the leading causation of world morbidity/mortality is chronic malnutrition.