ACSH Science Dispatch

• The Lasting Impacts of Scientific Fraud

Far too many scientific papers are being retracted from prestigious scientific journals because scientists fabricated or falsified data. Although no one defends scientific fraud, few recognize its long-lasting impacts on governmental policy and society.

• Can You Hear Me Now? If Not, Zinc May Be Why

Hearing loss, frequently due to exposure to loud noises, is a significant health problem. Its biological underpinning may well be due to what we consider a trace mineral: zinc.

• Which Came First, the Cannabis or the Schizophrenia?

Within the timeframe of the legalization of recreational cannabis, there's been a rise in cannabis “use disorder” and the diagnosis of schizophrenia. It's become a chicken or egg which-came-first problem. A new study suggests cannabis is the gateway, creating 15% of new cases of schizophrenia annually.

• Will Pfizer's New Weight Loss Pill Silence the Ozempic Commercials?

If you're one of the 100% of viewers who want to put a brick through your TV when one of the ceaseless, nauseating Ozempic ads comes on there's hope on the horizon. Pfizer has a pill that seems to work as well as the O-O-O-Ozempic injections. Perhaps this will shut up those wretched ads. A look at Pfizer's clinical trial data.

• Making Vicodin and Percocet Safer, By Reducing the Dose of Tylenol

Lost in the discussion of the alleged danger of opioid medications is that most of them also contain acetaminophen (Tylenol). Although acetaminophen is generally seen as benign, it is not. Here is what happened when the FDA cut the maximum acetaminophen dose to 325 mg. You may be surprised.

• A Bit of Irony: J&J Developing Drug to Undo Liver Damage ... From Its Own Tylenol

Johnson & Johnson is working on a drug to repair liver damage caused by Tylenol, which has made the company billions since it was launched in 1955. Isn't this a bit like having a dentist's office in the back of a candy store?

Dr. Tony Fauci, former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently acknowledged that the COVID shots didn't perform as well as public health experts hoped they would. What can policymakers learn from this controversial analysis? California is poised to ban five commonly used chemicals under the guise of protecting children. There's no science to justify the legislation.

Join host Cameron English as he sits down with Dr. Chuck Dinerstein to break down these stories on Episode 41 of the Science Dispatch podcast:

• At Last, A Scientific Explanation of Vaccines in the Time of COVID

Dr. Fauci, speaking on vaccinations: “Past unsuccessful attempts to elicit solid protection against mucosal respiratory viruses [COVID-19] and to control the deadly outbreaks and pandemics they cause," he said, "have been a scientific and public health failure that must be urgently addressed.” That's a lot to unpack.

• A Misguided Golden State Bill

A bill recently introduced in the California State Assembly would prohibit five chemicals: brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, polyparaben, red dye #3, and titanium dioxide – all banned in Europe – from food products in California. Let’s dig past the headline.

• ACSH Asks Where's the Adderall?
  

The shortage of Adderall, an important medication used to treat ADHD – attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder – is a story of supply, demand, the invisible hand of market forces. It’s also about a bureaucracy focused on regulation rather than outcome. It has all the hallmarks of the opioid crisis. We have learned nothing.

• EPA Scientifically-Challenged PFAS Numbers
  

With much fanfare, the EPA announced the proposed drinking water regulations for two “forever chemicals,” PFOA and PFOS. EPA Administrator Michael Regan said, “Communities across the country have suffered far too long from the ever-present threat of PFAS pollution. That is why President Biden launched a whole-of-government approach to aggressively confront these harmful chemicals, and EPA is leading the way forward.”

• Do Masks Prevent COVID? (Spoiler Alert: Of Course, They Do)

The ability of masks, especially high-quality ones, to prevent the transmission of respiratory infections, including COVID-19, is incontrovertible, but some commentators have come unglued on the subject.

• The Misinformation About Misinformation

The misinformation about the 2016 and 2020 elections and the misinformation about COVID’s origins and treatments are responsible for our disarray. That, at least, is what many of us believe, even though what is “disarrayed” differs quite a bit between MSNBC and FOX. Is misinformation so powerful that it overcomes the truth? Or is there something about human behavior that makes misinformation seem more powerful than truth? A new study suggests the fault lies more within us than “in our stars.”

• Woke Policies Are a Path to Societal Mediocrity — Or Worse

In the name of "social justice, "unqualified candidates are being admitted into professions as diverse and important as medicine and law. This policy may satisfy demands to make the these fields more diverse and equitable, but it also puts public health and our broader society at risk in a variety of ways.

• FDA Wants to Label Foods as 'Healthy'

"Claims like 'healthy' on food labels can provide information to consumers to help them identify healthier food choices at a glance. Foods must meet specific nutrient-related criteria to use the nutrient content claim 'healthy.'” So begins the FDA’s quest to label what is healthy and what is not. Good luck with that fool’s errand.

• Debunking the Erythritol Study

“Artificial sweeteners have been widely introduced into the food chain … ” While perhaps helpful in reducing weight, could they unintentionally promote poorer cardiovascular outcomes? A new Cleveland Clinic study suggests yes. But that yes comes with a great deal of uncertainty.

• Death By Dietary Supplement

Many herbal dietary supplements are complex, highly variable, impure, and unsafe. They need better oversight.

• No, Homeopathic 'Remedies' and OTC Drugs Don't Belong on the Same Shelf

The Center For Inquiry, a non-profit group with a similar mindset to ACSH, has filed lawsuits against Walmart and CVS for putting homeopathic "remedies" on shelves next to actual over-the-counter drugs – as if to suggest that they are of equal effectiveness. They are not. Such a placement is unethical at best and maybe even fraudulent. Here's why.

• Tylenol After Surgery? Why the Feds Make Patients Suffer Needless Pain (USA Today)

When government, politicians, and law enforcement take control of the practice of medicine this is what we get: Cruelty and incompetence. The next time you're given Tylenol for a broken leg or post-surgical pain you'll understand.

• How Scientific is ‘Peer-Reviewed’ Science?

"Peer review" of scientific articles before publication is often considered the "gold standard" of reliability, but its luster has become tarnished by greed – the desire of the research community to tap into research funds, the pressure on scientists to publish or perish, and publishers of scientific journals seeking to maximize profits.

• People Worry Hysterically About Low Risk Carcinogens. And Then They Drink

Thanks largely to the press and some radical environmental groups most people are terrified of chemicals because they can give us cancer. Almost all of these scares are bogus, but one that isn't is a beloved chemical – alcohol. Unlike a diet soda, a glass of alcohol poses a legitimate risk.

• Drug Shortages Are a Problem for Physicians and Patients. There’s a Solution

Shortages of widely prescribed drugs are endemic in the U.S. To address the problem, we need a policy change that would enable overseas manufacturers to sell products in the U.S. that already have received marketing approval from certain foreign governments with standards comparable to ours and vice versa. In other words, there should be reciprocity of drug approvals.

• Will the Biden Administration’s Attempt to Boost the ‘Bioeconomy’ Do the Opposite?

The Biden Administration's attempt to boost the "bioeconomy" is burdened with bureaucratic requirements and busy-work initiatives and projects. It will fail.

• Cooking with Gas

The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) recently concluded that gas stoves have polluted our indoor spaces. So polluted that “more than 12% of current childhood asthma cases in the US can be attributed to gas stove use.” Could that be true? Only if you believe in Mathmagic.

• Childhood Asthma and Second-Hand Cannabis Smoke

Asthma is a significant disease; among children, the prevalence is between 7 and 11%. The exacerbation of asthma by second-hand tobacco smoke is well documented, but as smoking tobacco has declined, smoking wacky weed has increased. What effect has this second-hand smoke had on “the children?”

• The Swedish Response to COVID

Sweden has been the poster child of the live-free-or-die, no-lockdown  crowd. The Great Barrington Declaration has its roots in the Swedish  response. But beyond those snippets, what actually took place there? It  is time for many of us, including myself, to find out.

• Ignore the News: Earth Is Getting Cleaner and Healthier

Dreary, despondent headlines about pollution and climate change are  the norm. But they are not painting an accurate picture. Many countries  are making serious efforts to protect the environment. Human ingenuity  is the ultimate resource. 

Join host Cameron English as he sits down Dr. Chuck Dinerstein and ACSH contributor Barbara Pfeffer Billauer  to break down these stories on episode 31 of the Science Dispatch podcast:

• Icons of Public Health Leadership: The Story of C. Everett Koop

The recipe for good public health policy is like a souffle—simple  ingredients combined in a complex manner. Done well, it’s a delight.  Heavy-handed, using sour (outdated) ingredients, it’s a mess, even  toxic.

• Even the Mighty Might Fall: The Continued Story of C. Everett Koop

Everett Koop was a man of morals. A religious man who read the bible.  He was also a man of science. He got his job through politics. Yet he  knew how to keep these forces separate. Nowhere was this more apparent  than in his pushback against political pressures to oppose abortion on  health grounds and to educate the populace about AIDS and tobacco use.

• The Health Benefits of Swearing – WTF?!

Swearing – defined as speaking “specific, negatively charged, and often emotionally loaded terms” – violates our norms of both the sacred and profane. While polite society often reflects on swearing’s negatives, it turns out that there are some health benefits for the sender (but not the receiver).

• Autism and Baby Foods

I almost drove off the road listening to an ad from a law firm urging parents with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to be part of a lawsuit suing baby food manufacturers for causing their child’s condition. According to the ad, the question of what causes ASD has been settled and what remains is for parents to get what is owed them from baby food manufacturers that have been hiding the truth from the public for years.

• Another Health Harm from Marijuana

“In a new analysis of medical records, cannabis smokers had higher rates of a certain type of emphysema than tobacco smokers.” It's another attention-grabbing headline that fails to tell the whole story. Let’s skip the public relations version and consider the study's findings.

• Ozempic Goes Way Off-Label

Ozempic, a drug indicated for Type 2 diabetes, has become the latest weight-loss darling. Not since ivermectin has a drug gained so much interest from its off-label uses. Let’s take a deeper look at the science and a regulatory conundrum.

• Thinking Aloud: COVID Amnesty

Emily Oster, an economist and popular author on the real facts of parenting, suggested that it was time for a COVID amnesty. There was a quick, demonstrative, and at times, angry response from many sources. I have studied acknowledging, correcting, and atoning for medical mistakes, including my own, for decades. Here is what I am thinking.

• Smart Water for Dumb Consumers

If you watch TV, ads for Coca-Cola's Smart Water are inescapable. Also inescapable is that the ads suggest that the stuff will make you smart or perhaps offer some other health benefit. But the only thing smart about Smart Water is Coca-Cola's ability to make you shell out money to buy something you could pretty much get from a fire hydrant in Newark.

• From the Archives: Apples, Alar, NRDC and Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep, a proud Vassar grad, recently received a Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater. But rather than stress her stellar career as an actor, she discussed an earlier moment as a citizen-scientist. “Once you know how to search out and credit the facts around certain problems, you are called on by your conscience to act on them. The Vassar conscience rings a bell in your head; it’s a call to action in your heart.” The problem? Alar.

• NYT Attacks Great Scientist, Further Tanks Its Credibility

The New York Times has again attacked an upstanding scientist based on claims made by duplicitous activist groups. This episode illustrates why the public's trust in media is plummeting.

• I Died Last Week

Last week I stopped breathing. If it was not for my wife, who gave me some breaths, and the village of people who subsequently cared for me, we would be speaking through a Ouija Board.

• Unregulated Algorithms in Healthcare – EPIC and Sepsis

Sepsis is an overwhelming infection: bacterial, viral, or fungal. It requires immediate medical attention and intervention. EPIC, the company with the largest share of the electronic medical records market, developed an algorithm to help physicians timely identify at-risk patients. An independent study shows that it is not helpful. Is this healthcare’s 737Max moment?

• Cleveland Clinic Pushes Dangerous Anti-Vaping Propaganda

The Cleveland Clinic, one of the world's foremost academic medical centers, has jumped on the anti-vaping bandwagon, perpetuating unfiltered nonsense about the health effects of nicotine.

In the wake of legalization campaigns across the US, medicinal and recreational use of cannabis have gained widespread support, with nearly 60 million Americans reporting use of marijuana in 2020. The drug is thought to pose minimal risk while offering a number of potential medical benefits. Nevertheless, there can be significant health risks associated with cannabis use. Just as we openly discuss the harms associated with alcohol, tobacco, and, opioids, so too should we discuss the downsides of cannabis use, argues Dr. Roneet Lev.

Ronnet Lev is a nationally acclaimed medical expert and speaker who continues to treat patients in the emergency department. She is dually board-certified in emergency and addiction medicine, bringing over 25 years of experience treating frontline cases of addiction.

• Tumors Have a 'Fungal Biome' - Implications for Powerful New Cancer Screens

An Israeli group has discovered that some cancers can be identified  by blood tests that identify the DNA of different fungi that grow within  different tumors. Could this be a breakthrough in cancer screening? Or  maybe more? A strange but fascinating theory.

• ACSH Debates 'Fat Acceptance' Advocates on Dr. Phil

Cameron English recently appeared on "Dr. Phil" to discuss the  fat-acceptance movement—a dangerous, misnamed "social justice" cause  that needs to die an abrupt death. Let's break down the debate that  ensued.

• The Devil You Know - Neurontin's Massive Flop as an Opioid Alternative

Wanna hear something sickening? Neurontin, a drug developed for epilepsy and used off-label for neuropathic pain, had its sales grow 250% between 2004 and 2019. Why? We don't have 250% more epileptics. No, it's because the drug is being forced down the throats of people who can no longer get sufficient pain relief. The result? Abuse and also more overdose deaths. Just another chapter in our psychotic war against legitimate opioid drugs and the people who need them.

• Censorship? Twitter Puts A 'Warning' on ACSH Obesity Article

Continuing its trend of unjustified censorship, Twitter put a "warning" on one of our recent tweets "so people who don’t want to see sensitive content can avoid it." This protects nobody, but it denies the public access to credible health information.