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On Nov. 25, 2020, the Supreme Court decided Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Andrew Cuomo [1] in a 5-4 ruling. That decision struck down Gov. Cuomo's executive order limiting to ten the number of individuals who could gather in places of worship in hard-hit “red zones.”  As COVID's US toll continues to increase and vaccination efforts fumble, we can expect frustrated governors and public health officials to seek to enforce a broader panoply of lockdown orders. The Diocese case teaches a few lessons to assure new orders don’t trespass on the new-found Religious devotion of the Supreme Court.

While most medical reports on artificial intelligence algorithms note how well they perform against clinical judgment, lawyers focus on the prize. Who is liable for the bad outcome, the physician or the algorithm? It makes a difference in trying to get money from deep or deeper pockets.

California's Central Valley produces more than 250 different crops comprising one-fourth of the nation's food. That includes 40% of our fruits, nuts, and other table foods. However, California is currently facing a severe drought, which will require farmers to fallow at least 500,000 acres of farmland. So how do we grow the necessary food?

There are several websites compiling data on the vaccination roll-out. As was the case for tracking the spread of COVID-19, some metrics are more helpful than others. Here is our initial guide, and like COVID-19, subject to change.

We know we develop an immune response to COVID-19 if we are infected or vaccinated, but just how long does it last? The answer to that question is becoming more evident.

Seven human health risk assessments of pharmaceuticals in drinking water in the U.S. and Canada were
reviewed. And good news: None of these studies reported a potential health risk from exposure to pharmaceuticals in drinking water.

A dangerous five-step program converts "vaccine-hesitant" people into full-blown anti-vaxxers.

New Jersey health officials' interpretation of CDC guidance is going to put smokers ahead of nonsmokers in the COVID vaccination program. Crazy? We think so.

COVID may trigger autoimmune disease in some people, contributing to their deaths.

While the COVID crisis rages on across America, this massive epidemic and the coverage surrounding it -- while vitally important -- has effectively pushed another epidemic out of the media spotlight. Dr. Josh Bloom, ACSH's Director of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science, and Dr. Jeffrey Singer, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, co-authored an Op-Ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer on the current state of the opioid crisis, to remind us that, among other things, pain patients are hurting and they must not be forgotten.

Remember vaping? Before COVID-19 took all the oxygen out of the room, vaping was a big fear. A new study shows that what we have claimed all along is true: vaping reduces inflammatory biomarkers associated with smoking tobacco.

Vulnerabilities in cyberbiosecurity are becoming a major public health threat. It's time to prepare before the worst happens.

We, humans, have difficulty understanding the very small and the very large, but scale plays an increasingly important role in our lives - think Amazon or Twitter. What if we taught about scale in school? Are we becoming more or less violent? An update on COVID-19's origin story - a cautionary tale? What does the Federal Trade Commission have to do with the problems at the Capital?

A new study finds that people who love terrifying movies are more resilient and less concerned about the current pandemic. It is time to get out the popcorn and see what is on the big screen.

The common cold is a miserable experience, but there may be a silver lining to developing one: Certain kinds may help prevent severe COVID infections.

An increased risk of mortality from COVID-19 has been separately linked to age, race, co-morbidities, and residence in nursing homes. The relative importance or effect of each of these variables – or any possible inter-relationship -- has yet to be determined or investigated. Such determination is critical – both to assess important risk factors in vulnerable groups, and determine the propriety and effectiveness of policy. 

The popular press is replete with descriptive data on the current pandemic on global and national scales and for selected local areas with extreme outcomes. Here we describe regional data from April through December 2020 and analyze commonality among regions, case-fatality rates, and rates of change among daily rates, including "flattening of curves." We hope to Improve understanding of regional differences and trends in the pandemic.

Once again, I reached out to my friends living in an extended care facility to get an update. After all, they were in the first wave to be immunized, weren't they?

If you're like most men, a vasectomy is probably quite far down on your list of hobbies. But, thanks to a less invasive method that came from China, the operation can be performed in a painless half-hour. New York urologist Dr. David Kaufman explains.

Our elderly population living in nursing homes has been a target of COVID-19 and now early vaccination. Was COVID-19 preying upon the weak and frail -- where some co-morbidities more likely to be problematic -- or were nursing home protocols, and the staff administering them, one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

How to become a member of the Jonas Salk Society.

Dietary guidelines must be realistic, not idealistic, in order for people to follow them.

So far, the rollout of the COVID vaccine has been an embarrassing mess. There are different rules at different distribution locations, and sometimes they seem to change randomly. And to complicate matters, we're learning about unused, leftover doses. So who gets them? Or do they get thrown out?

The Atlantic says that the new coronavirus strain is a "huge danger." However, the virus already mutated early last year to become more infectious. There's no reason to panic yet.

While we have vaccinated 1.38% of our population, Israel has vaccinated 15.83% of theirs – twice that of its closest competitor (the United Arab Emirates) and 11-fold that our rate [1]. What can we learn and do?