Latest Articles

Desperately Seeking a Reformer to Head the FDA
The Agency is too risk-averse, bureaucratically top-heavy, and resistant to change

March 14, 2019  •  American Greatness

Federal regulation affects our lives every day in more ways than we realize. The Food and Drug Administration alone regulates products that account for more than a trillion dollars annually—25 cents of every consumer dollar; and the average cost (including out-of-pocket expenses and opportunity costs) to bring a new drug to market is now about $2.6 billion.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced his resignation on March 5, and the search has already begun for a successor. This transition offers an opportunity: We need a regulatory reformer.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

Denunciation of Celebrities is Mounting. There Are More Important Things to Worry About
Let's focus the outrage machine on the inadequacies of politicians instead

March 13, 2019  •  Medium.com

It seems to be open season on vilifying public figures who do or say things that others find offensive. Not surprisingly, given the media's left-wing bias, two current targets are Fox anchors Jeanine Pirro and Tucker Carlson. Ms. Pirro questioned whether Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's Islamic religious beliefs are inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution. "Think about it: Omar wears a hijab," Pirro said on her show on March 9. "Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to Sharia law, which in itself is antithetical to the United States Constitution?" Hardly incendiary, but it elicited a firestorm of invective.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

America's Citrus Fruits Are Being Decimated By An Incurable Disease -- We Need GM Science to Save Them
Without genetic engineering and state-of-the-art pesticides we face the prospect of a $50 glass of O.J.

March 12, 2019  •  Newsweek

Farmers in the major U.S. citrus-producing regions—Florida, California, Texas and Arizona, in particular—are facing a plague of epic proportions.

Oranges and a range of other citrus fruits are being decimated by an incurable disease, a lethal, bacterial infection known as "citrus greening"—or Huanglongbing.

It is spread by a tiny insect, the Asian citrus psyllid, which has just been found in San Mateo County, just south of San Francisco. In response, county and state officials have launched a surveillance and treatment program and introduced a quarantine of citrus trees and plant material.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

Research integrity and why bad science has become such a problem
The scientific community as a whole must find solutions

March 11, 2019  •  Genetic Literacy Project

Science depends on corroboration — that is, researchers verify others' results, often making incremental advances as they do so. The nature of science dictates that no research paper is ever considered to be the final word, but increasingly, there are too many whose results are not reproducible. Explanations include the complexity of experimental systems, misunderstanding (and often, misuse) of statistics, pressures on researchers to publish, and the proliferation of shoddy pay-to-play "predatory" journals.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

Feds battle opioid abuse with a circular firing squad
Prescription opioids are no longer a significant problem but they're the focus of government policies, and patients are suffering

March 11, 2019  •  Washington Examiner

The ongoing battle to control opioid addiction has not gone well. Many of the government's efforts have been medically and scientifically flawed and unproductive. Some have even been counterproductive. Public policy is in disarray.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles