It's hard to think of two settings more different than a dentist's chair and a dog park. One hums with high-speed drills and anxiety; the other echoes with joyful barks and tail wags.

Yet increasingly, dentists across the country are discovering that a little fur and affection can go a long way toward easing fear — and improving care.

Yet increasingly, dentists across the country are discovering that a little fur and affection can go a long way toward easing fear — and improving care.

I had that epiphany recently when I was about to have a broken filling replaced, and my dentist asked whether I'd like to have Bailey, his 30-pound Bernedoodle, sit on my lap during the procedure. And here we are:

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

Every flu season, the same questions come up in doctors' offices, pharmacies and family discussions: Do antiviral drugs really help? Are they worth the side effects? And how do you know if you need one?

Those questions matter more than ever. Online misinformation has made some people suspicious of prescription drugs, while others assume antivirals are miracle cures. Here's the practical, "news you can use" version — what flu antivirals can and can't do, who should take them, and how to decide quickly if they're right for you.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

There is hardly an adult American who at some point hasn't needed antibiotics — for bronchitis or a urinary tract infection, for example, or something more serious like pneumonia or blood poisoning. Seldom do we think about their long and storied history.

Nearly a century ago, a stroke of luck changed the course of medicine. In 1928, Scottish microbiologist Alexander Fleming returned from vacation to find that one of his bacterial culture plates had been contaminated with mold. Around the mold was a clear halo where the bacteria had died. The mold was Penicillium notatum, and the substance it produced — which Fleming named penicillin — launched the modern antibiotic era.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

By unilaterally gutting the U.S. childhood vaccination schedule, President Donald Trump and and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have replaced decades of successful evidence-based public health policy with ideology, conspiracy thinking, and medical malpractice. This is not reform. It is vandalism.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles

For decades, the Food and Drug Administration was the undisputed global gold standard for regulation. While other nations might approve drugs faster or cheaper, an FDA approval was special. It was a guarantee that a product had survived a meticulous review by career scientists who were cautious to a fault and insulated from undue political influence.

During my 15 years at the agency — serving as a reviewer, special assistant to the commissioner, and founding director of the Office of Biotechnology — we understood that the agency's legitimacy depended on a firewall between scientific evidence and political ideology.

Continue to the full article  |  More articles