Supplements: What You Don’t Know Can Kill You

Mike Magee MD About 114 million Americans consume dietary supplements every day in America. That’s 1 out of every 3 citizens and 1 out of every 2 adults. What’s included in the general supplement waste basket? Vitamins, minerals, botanical products, amino acids and tissue extracts. Before 1994 herbal products were considered food additives and regulated […]

Tobacco Control In The US: There’s Still Work To Be Done

Mike Magee MD We can justifiably take pride in the progress that we’ve made in the U.S. when it comes to tobacco. It’s been a battle, each step hard fought against a foe that consistently has put profit above health, and bent the truth at every turn. It’s been over 50 years since our federal […]

Smoking Out the Ad Industry

Money Talks Last week, after decades of fighting dating back to FDA Commissioner David Kessler’s valiant attempts, the FDA was finally granted authority to regulate tobacco. Congress passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which President Obama is now expected to sign into law.1,2 This landmark legislation controls elements of manufacturing, marketing, and […]

When Swine Flu Returns in the Fall, How Bad will it Be?

Several years ago, when Bird Flu, viral strain H5N1, hit, I reported on it immediately. I provided several updates over the following 24 months.1,2,3 I did this not because of the numbers of people affected (many more birds died then did people) but because of the deadliness of this microbe. The bottom line for avian […]

Humans versus Microbes

Infectious microbes – tiny organisms that include bacteria and viruses – are alive and well and continue to give us a run for our money. We find them pretty scary, and we are quick to panic, especially since a number of popular movies have been replete with the pandemic theme. What are the facts? Microbes […]

Private Health Insurer’s House of Cards

There is a reason we are the only advanced nation in the world with employer-based health insurance. It is the result from a defensive move by GM in the late 40’s, intended to prevent the Toledo-based union from expanding its hold on GM workers by creating health benefits.1 Within ten years, 70% of all big […]

Should Smoking be Outlawed on Pedestrian Walkways?

"Smoke doesn’t know to stop at the doorway. It fills the full capacity of every indoor location in which the cigarette is smoked," according to Harvard Medical School professor Jonathan Winickoff.1 His remarks were in response to the release of a recent study of approximately 1,800 non-smokers in New York City. The shocking findings: 57% […]

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