Science Controversies
Viewpoint—‘Technology is pulling us apart’: Environmental, political, and economic
It could be the relentless news agenda, but the news has been relentless throughout my 11 years as editor-in-chief of ...
Viewpoint: Indian PM wants farmers to switch to 50% organic. It would take at least 10 years, likely won’t work, and isn’t more sustainable
... Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided it was time to ask Indians to brace themselves for price shocks and other ...
Financial incentives, over diagnosis, and weak oversight: Autism claims are driving up Medicare costs
As we recently argued, the American healthcare system’s structure of open-ended reimbursement, subjective diagnostic criteria, and fee-for-service billing creates powerful ...
AI likely to improve health care, research shows—but not for blacks and ethnic minorities
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being integrated into health care, including but not limited to diagnosis and treatment plans, drug development, prediction of health risks and ...
Newest hantavirus conspiracy: Online disinformation turns outbreak into latest ivermectin grift
Conspiracy theorists, wellness influencers, and grifters have already started promoting wild claims about the hantavirus outbreak that began aboard the MV Hondius, a cruise ship on ...
Viewpoint — Alternative medicine and the placebo effect: Selling a reassuring illusion of health
For many people who can afford it, it is not their doctor, but an acupuncturist or massage therapist who will ...
Viewpoint: ‘Crisis of public trust’: Autism support community shocked RFK continues to peddle false claims about the danger of vaccines
Misinformation from top health officials in the Trump administration has created a “crisis of public trust” – and Congress should ...
Viewpoint: Why the retracted Monsanto glyphosate study doesn’t change the science—the world’s most popular herbicide is safe
In 2000, three researchers published a peer-reviewed paper concluding that, “under present and expected conditions of use,” Roundup, a formulation of ...
The FDA couldn’t find a vaccine safety crisis, so it buried its own research
Corrupt and Unethical Leadership at the FDA There is a particular kind of government betrayal that arrives not with a ...
Defying death: The immortality movement goes mainstream
Michael Peel ... [I]n this series, we’re exploring the origins of the longevity movement and how it’s migrating from the ...
Viewpoint: Anti-vax fake ‘turbo cancer’ claims threaten cancer treatment breakthroughs
Since the early 2000s, there have been over 120 promising clinical trials testing the use of mRNA vaccines to treat multiple cancer ...
Viewpoint: Will AI democratize personalized cancer treatment or fuel medical misinformation?
Artificial intelligence (AI) has made major advances in biomedical research. It has powered tools such as AlphaFold and systems that ...
Viewpoint: ‘Safer for children?’ Stonyfield yogurt under fire for deceptive organic marketing
In the competitive food marketplace, fear-based marketing continues to be a go-to strategy for some food companies trying to differentiate ...
Facebook swamped by hundreds of thousands of scam ads for illegal or dangerous medical products
Two months ago, a sponsored post for a supplement popped up on Facebook with a miraculous claim: “The doctors have ...
How big health brands are funding online medical misinformation
A study published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open, which is published by the American Medical Association, found that health care-related ...
Millions take omega-3 fish oil for brain health. New research suggests it may do the opposite.
While omega-3 fatty acid supplementation is widely used for cognitive protection, its efficacy remains controversial, and its impact on core ...
Viewpoint: ‘Measles is a canary in the healthcare coal mine’: Challenging RFK, Jr.’s scare campaign
The rise of measles may also be a harbinger of something even worse, public officials say. “Measles is basically a ...
Viewpoint: Are cancer rates ‘skyrocketing’ as RFK, Jr. and MAHA claim? The evidence says mostly the opposite
Clickbait headlines often obscure this reality and reinforce misunderstandings. For example, cancer is not a single disease; it’s a catchall ...
GLP podcast: Big Pharma, Big Ag, Big Food—health harming industries or life-saving innovators?
Fossil fuels, pesticides and food processing have dramatically improved living standards around the globe. This may be a controversial claim, ...
Hantavirus outbreak research: Trump administration shut down study last year on rodent-to-human transmission
In 2025 the Trump administration eliminated funding for a group that had been running a pilot project aimed at studying the type ...
“Evidence for puberty suppression and gender affirming hormones limited’: British doctors group questions early transitions but also opposes blocker ban
The BMA’s long awaited critique of the Cass review has largely vindicated the findings of the original landmark review into ...
Cooling the planet with balloons: Could a geoengineering gamble slow global warming?
The political momentum behind costly climate-change mitigation appears to be weakening, especially in the United States. President Donald Trump has ...
Overmedicalization? RFK Jr.’s antidepressant crackdown raises conflict questions over his fee stake in Wisner Baum, the tort firm built on suing drug makers
Environmental lawyer and volunteer riverkeeper RFK Jr continues to make waves in his current job as head of the US ...
Science Disinformation Gap: The transatlantic battle over social media and censorship
Every day, the same post appears in two places at once. A Facebook user in Munich sees it with a ...
FDA’s expedited drug reviews are hailed in some quarters but other approval practices are problematic
In July 2025, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a pilot program intended to expedite reviews for drug ...
Vaccine shootout at the CDC
When President Trump named a new leadership team at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention two weeks ago, public ...
Viewpoint: Misinformation infodemic? Why assessing evidence is so challenging
When United States Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveiled new dietary guidelines earlier this year to “Make America Healthy ...
