Vaccine skepticism is a growing global problem

Vaccine skepticism is a growing global problem

Lara Yeyati Preiss, Will Merrow |
Vaccination is one of the most successful global health interventions in history, eradicating or eliminating some of the deadliest diseases ...
Doctors needs nutrition classes? A physician unmasks another MAHA myth

Doctors needs nutrition classes? A physician unmasks another MAHA myth

Cameron English, Liza Lockwood |
To hear RFK, Jr. talk about medical school, you may think doctors enter health care oblivious to basic facts about ...
10,000 scientists gone: Trump’s cuts create an unprecedented brain drain

10,000 scientists gone: Trump’s cuts create an unprecedented brain drain

Jeffrey Mervis, Monica Hersher |
Some 10,109 doctoral-trained experts in science and related fields left their jobs last year as President Donald Trump dramatically shrank ...
Fish oil supplements for brain injuries probably don’t work 

Fish oil supplements for brain injuries probably don’t work 

A first-of-its-kind study led by the Medical University of South Carolina raises questions about the value of fish oil supplements ...
Reality check: Why we can’t trust anything online — and no one knows how to fix it

Reality check: Why we can’t trust anything online — and no one knows how to fix it

Gia Chaudry |
A zero digital footprint used to signal authenticity. Now, it can signal the opposite. The absence of a trail no ...
Viewpoint: How do you sell evidence-based health and science in a world where facts don’t matter?

Viewpoint: How do you sell evidence-based health and science in a world where facts don’t matter?

Jess Steier |
[B]efore whatever this period is, the idea that public resistance to science was essentially a knowledge problem — that more information “fixed” ...
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Congressional Republicans pushing false claims that over-the-counter birth control pills are unsafe

Selena Simmons-Duffin |
Imagine that you're pregnant, a few weeks in, and you decide you want an abortion. You walk into a retail ...
Gurus of woo: 9 health influencer superstars

Gurus of woo: 9 health influencer superstars

Alexa Lee |
Some work full time as scientists and physicians .... Others have no relevant credentials to speak of, and frequently disseminate ...
Despite disease surges, poll shows Kennedy-driven disinformation has left most Americans skeptical of vaccines

Despite disease surges, poll shows Kennedy-driven disinformation has left most Americans skeptical of vaccines

Lauren Gardner |
Results from the March poll of 3,851 U.S. adults conducted by Public First show that a plurality of Americans question ...
Viewpoint: ‘Make America Healthy Again” appeals to fake nostalgia about non-existent golden age

Viewpoint: ‘Make America Healthy Again” appeals to fake nostalgia about non-existent golden age

Joe Schwarcz |
“Make America healthy again” sounds like a great slogan. It is loaded with nostalgia and … haziness. What is that ...
Woo truce? The science and health establishment divided on how to deal with MAHA and RFK, Jr.

Woo truce? The science and health establishment divided on how to deal with MAHA and RFK, Jr.

Margaret Manto |
The Trump administration’s celebration of its new meat- and milk-centric dietary guidelines was held in an auditorium decorated with colorful ...
Ban the ads? Should government restrict prescription drug commercials?

Ban the ads? Should government restrict prescription drug commercials?

Paula Span |
Tamar Abrams had a lousy couple of years in 2022 and ’23. Both her parents died; a relationship ended; she ...
Fluoride lowers intelligence? First-ever widescale water supply study debunks Kennedy’s scare claim

Fluoride lowers intelligence? First-ever widescale water supply study debunks Kennedy’s scare claim

Erika Edwards, Kaan Ozcan |
Tests of intelligence and brain function showed the same results whether or not people drank fluoridated water growing up, a ...
Public health advocates turn to influencers to fight online misinformation

Public health advocates turn to influencers to fight online misinformation

Wendy Glauser |
Scroll. “Five essential questions that you must ask your surgeon prior to any operation.” Click. “Yesterday, I posted a picture ...
With X and other platforms retreating from fact-checking, can AI fill the void?

With X and other platforms retreating from fact-checking, can AI fill the void?

Wendy Glauser |
Misinformation is increasingly spread with single clicks, bots, and artificial intelligence (AI) deepfakes. AI-generated images and videos share fake treatments, ...
RFK, Jr. was approved as HHS secretary only because doctor-senator Bill Cassidy cast the deciding vote. Anti-vaxxers are now gunning for him

RFK, Jr. was approved as HHS secretary only because doctor-senator Bill Cassidy cast the deciding vote. Anti-vaxxers are now gunning for him

Amanda Seitz |
The ambitious liver doctor would go just about anywhere in his home state to give people the hepatitis B vaccine ...
Swim club: Expensive male fertility supplements are all the rage

Swim club: Expensive male fertility supplements are all the rage

Sara Ashley O’Brien |
SwimClub, a new male fertility-supplement company, markets to both men and women. “You can’t out-ovulate bad sperm,” reads one ad ...
Viewpoint: CRISPR and mRNA — under attack by technology skeptics — poised to save millions of children with rare diseases

Viewpoint: CRISPR and mRNA — under attack by technology skeptics — poised to save millions of children with rare diseases

Jeff Coller |
We call them rare diseases, but there is nothing rare about the suffering they cause. Some 25 million Americans, nearly ...
Ancient African shrub ibogaine causes psychedelic hallucinations — and can reduce anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Why is it restricted in the US?

GLP podcast: Miracle drug? Tech bros inflate depression-fighting effects of psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT

Cameron English, Liza Lockwood |
The greater the media hype around psychedelics, the more skeptical you should be. A perfect example of why this skepticism ...
Viewpoint: Why over-eating processed foods is not the main driver of obesity

Viewpoint: Why over-eating processed foods is not the main driver of obesity

David Ludwig |
Typical binge foods share a common feature: They are composed mainly of fast-digesting carbohydrates that rapidly raise blood sugar ...
Health misinformation is exploding online — and government and health groups shoulder some of the blame

Health misinformation is exploding online — and government and health groups shoulder some of the blame

Liz Szabo |
In the new study, published in JAMA Network Open, researchers scrutinized advertising revenue from 11 news sites flagged for spreading health misinformation, including ...
Viewpoint: Is Trump turning against RFK, Jr.’s vaccine rejectionism?

Viewpoint: Is Trump turning against RFK, Jr.’s vaccine rejectionism?

Every fall, I scramble to get my garden hoses into storage before the first deep freeze. Like clockwork, every spring, ...
Release of CDC study concluding Covid vaccines dramatically cut hospitalizations blocked by RFK. Jr.

Release of CDC study concluding Covid vaccines dramatically cut hospitalizations blocked by RFK. Jr.

Lena Sun |
The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has delayed publication of a CDC report [scheduled for ...
Bixonimania: The fake disease scam that AI swallowed whole

Bixonimania: The fake disease scam that AI swallowed whole

Chris Stokel-Walker |
Bixonimania didn’t exist before 15 March 2024, when two blog posts about it appeared on the website Medium. Then, on ...
Here’s why some foods need to be ultra-processed—and how to make better food choices

Here’s why some foods need to be ultra-processed—and how to make better food choices

Hillary Kaufman |
If you’ve read nutrition headlines lately, you’ve probably seen “ultra-processed foods” thrown around with increasing urgency, most likely framed as ...
RFK, Jr. rewrites rules for CDC vaccine advisory panel to reinstate anti-vaccine activists, circumventing court ruling

RFK, Jr. rewrites rules for CDC vaccine advisory panel to reinstate anti-vaccine activists, circumventing court ruling

Brenda Goodman |
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has approved changes to rules that govern an expert group ...
Shilajit Ayurvedic sex drive-boosting myth: Tar-like ooze extracted from Himalayan rocks doesn't work

Shilajit Ayurvedic sex drive-boosting myth: Tar-like ooze extracted from Himalayan rocks doesn’t work

Daniel Kelly |
Shilajit is the latest supplement marketed online as a “natural testosterone booster”. Promoted by influencers, wellness brands and biohacking communities, ...