The United States Has a Gun Problem

In 2022, there were 48,204 gun deaths in the United States, 132/day. Of these, 27,032 were suicides, 19,651 homicides, 463 unintentional and 643 fatal shootings by law enforcement.

White males have by far the highest rate of suicide by gun while black males are much more likely to be victims of homicide. The U.S. has 33 times the rate of firearm homicide as Australia.

Among 15- to 24-year-olds, homicide is the second leading cause of death (following unintentional injuries) and suicide is third. For 25- to 34-year-olds, suicide is second after unintentional injuries and homicide third.

Worst is what we do to our children. Excluding infants, gun violence accounts for 15% of deaths among those under age 20. The firearm death rate for children 1-19 in the U.S. is 29 times that of comparable large wealthy countries.

Barring a dramatic turn-around at the Supreme Court, we are not going to get rid of guns, but that does not mean we are helpless to change this story.

Much of the laws and rules governing gun ownership and safety are still set at the state level, and this has given us “natural experiments,” as we can observe what happens in states with differing policies.

State laws vary across a variety of issues. The leading areas where states can be more or less strict include universal background checks, minimum age limits for gun purchase, waiting periods, child access rules, concealed carry and “stand your ground” laws.

Of these, three had dramatic effects on lowering gun homicides and suicides: requiring universal background checks, forbidding concealed carry and not having “stand your ground” as a legitimate excuse for firing a gun. States imposing these rules had 70-90% fewer firearm deaths than states which took the opposite position.

Children benefit from stricter gun laws. In 2010 the Supreme Court allowed states to set their own firearm rules. Researchers ranked all the U.S. states into most permissive (31 states), permissive (11) and strict (8) and compared what happened to pediatric gun death rates ten years later. In the states with the most permissive laws, death rates of children by firearms went up by roughly 50% while in the states with the strictest laws, pediatric deaths fell by about 20%.

"Red flag" laws—also known as Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs)—allow courts to temporarily remove firearms from individuals deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. These have been shown to clearly reduce the risk of death by suicide, though their effect on homicide is less proven.

If you value your life, and the lives of your children and grandchildren, demand that your state legislatures enact sensible gun restrictions.


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mRNA vaccines - are they dangerous?

RFK Jr, our anti-science Secretary of Health and Human Services, has declared that new vaccines should be developed without using mRNA technology and has cast doubt on the safety of mRNA.

What do we know about this technology?

mRNA occurs normally in our bodies. It carries instructions from our DNA out to the cells where these “blueprints” are used to make proteins. mRNA is inherently short-lived. It delivers instructions and then is programmed to die. It typically lasts a few days at most.

The traditional way to make vaccines is to grow viruses in culture, break them apart, and use the fragments of viral proteins to make vaccines. When these are injected, the body’s immune system recognizes them as foreign and develops an immune response that ramps up if the virus later attacks us.

When mRNA is used to create vaccines, mRNA carries instructions into our cells to build proteins that form part of a virus, such as the spike protein of the Covid virus. The body’s cells make these proteins, which the body recognizes as foreign and makes antibodies against them. These antibodies are now prepared to fight off the virus should we encounter it.

The big advantage of using mRNA to create vaccines over the traditional method is that vaccines can be made much more quickly, typically within weeks of a new virus being identified. The old method, growing viruses in culture and using disrupted virus particles to stimulate the immune system, typically took months.

Should we experience another pandemic, mRNA vaccines will save countless lives.

Are these vaccines dangerous?

They do NOT change our DNA. mRNA makes a one-way trip and does not enter the nucleus or change our DNA.

Yes, people can get muscle aches and fever, but this can happen with any vaccine – it is part of the body’s response to a foreign protein.

There were cases of heart muscle inflammation after the Covid vaccination, but there were many more in people who got infected with Covid.

It has been over four years since the mRNA vaccines were introduced, and there have been no new safety concerns.

Do not let fear-mongering persuade you. The vaccines are safe and could save your life.


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Radon - what you don't know can hurt you

Radon is a breakdown product of uranium, which is found naturally in soil and rocks everywhere. Radon is a gas, and it is odorless, colorless and tasteless.

Radon can seep into your house from the ground on which it is built and, particularly if your house is tightly-sealed, can build up.

Some amount of radon is unavoidable, but levels above 4 picocuries per liter are considered a cause of lung cancer. Radon is the number one cause of lung cancer in non-smokers, and the combination of smoking and radon is particularly lethal.

There is natural variation in radon levels depending on geography. You can Google “EPA radon zones” to find a map and spreadsheet that will tell you to the county level how likely you are to be at a high level of radon.

Some states, including Massachusetts, mandate radon tests before a house is sold, but most states do not.

Testing is easy. You can get a test kit at the hardware store or on-line. You leave the kit in a central part of your basement (or ground floor if you have no basement) and mail it in.

If the test comes back at 4 or higher, you should take action.

While there are some helpful things you can do yourself, such as sealing cracks in the basement floor or walls and improving the ventilation in your home, major improvement will require professional help.

Seek a certified radon mitigator – certified by NRPP (National Radon Proficiency Program) or NRSB (National Radon Safety Board). The typical solution involves a pipe system running from beneath the foundation that draws air through an external pipe to above the roof using a fan.

Remediation does not come cheap: it will probably cost between $1000 and $2500. Add to that the cost of electricity to run a fan continuously.

So, as well as having smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your home, one more thing to add. Forewarned is forearmed.


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It is just an over-the-counter supplement - it must be safe

Many of us take dietary supplements such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, or other products to boost our health. Since many supplements contain natural ingredients, it’s easy to assume they are always safe. But “natural” does not always mean safe, especially when combined with medications. Nor does it always mean effective.

Let’s get the “effective” part out of the way first. A law passed by Congress in 1994 restricts the FDA from reviewing dietary supplements before marketing as they do with prescription medications. Most of the claims made by the manufacturers about the benefits of their product have no basis in fact.

If these products were simply useless, you would only be wasting your money, but they are far from guaranteed safe.

Some products have been banned by the FDA after being on the market for extended periods when their side-effects were found to be very dangerous but may still be available by mail-order. These would include ephedra (Ma Huang) and DMAA, used for weight loss and energy, that cause high blood pressure and strokes.

Some are discouraged but still sold. Kava, easily available online, is used for anxiety but can cause severe liver damage. Yohimbe is used for erectile dysfunction and bodybuilding; it can cause high blood pressure, kidney failure and heart problems.

Colloidal silver is claimed to have immune support and anti-bacterial properties but can leave your skin permanently discolored.

Fat-soluble vitamins (A, E, D and K) are not easily removed from the body. While they are safe in low doses, high doses of Vitamin A can damage the liver, as several Texas families following RFK Jr’s advice discovered. High does of Vitamin D can dangerously raise your blood calcium.

Finally, some supplements can interact with prescription medicines you may be taking. St John’s Wort causes a more rapid breakdown of many medications so that they lose their effectiveness. These include birth control pills and anti-depressants.

Calcium supplements interfere with the absorption of many medications, causing them to be less effective. Green tea extracts (but not the amount in a cup of tea) affect the breakdown of many medications.

Finally, there is the serious concern that many supplements are adulterated with inactive and/or toxic ingredients. The under-staffed FDA is unlikely to ride herd on these products unless there is a mass poisoning event that commands their attention.

What should you do?

In general, don’t waste your money. Beyond a daily multivitamin, most OTC supplements are useless.

If you wish to take a supplement, buy it at a legitimate pharmacy or health food store that will be there if there are problems. Look for independent lab testing by the USP (U.S. Pharmacopeia) or NSF (National Science Foundation).

If you are taking prescription medications, ask your doctor to check for possible interactions before you start taking any supplements.


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Leaving the WHO/defunding USAID - penny unwise and pound foolish

President Trump announced on the day of his inauguration that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization, a process that takes a year under a joint resolution of Congress passed in 1948. The stated reason was the WHO’s failure to quickly sound the alarm about COVID-19.

In fact, the WHO’s general director told the world to get ready on Jan 23, 2020, and a week later declared a world-wide public health emergency. It was the Trump administration that down-played the pandemic and delayed the U.S. response, leading to hundreds of thousands of avoidable deaths.

On March 28, the Trump administration announced it was shutting down the US Agency for International Development (USAID), including all its disease-fighting initiatives around the world.

Do either of these decisions help the U.S.?

U.S. foreign aid in all its facets accounts for some 1% of the federal budget, and health-related spending is only a fraction of that.

What do we get for our financial support?

A global vaccination campaign led by the WHO led to the elimination of smallpox from the world. Global efforts have produced a 99.9% reduction in yearly polio cases, with polio now endemic only in Pakistan and Afghanistan. American support has led to a dramatic reduction in AIDS in South Africa. Malaria and tuberculosis deaths will both rise because U.S. aid has been stopped, and American tourists will also suffer.

With the world totally connected by trade and tourism, outbreaks in a distant country will inevitably reach the U.S. and strain our health system. When a few imported cases of Ebola occurred in 2014, 45 health centers here spent over $53 million to gear up. Since the question is not “if” but “when” the next pandemic arises, do we want to fight it alone?

WHO initiatives have directly benefitted Americans. Efforts by the WHO led to the discovery and standardization of oral fluid replacement for children suffering severe diarrhea, and this treatment is now widely used in the U.S.

Cutting American support for the WHO and reducing our support of health efforts around the world will save us a little money in the short-run but at the cost of millions of deaths in less-developed countries and in the long-run will end up costing us more as diseases first spread abroad and then reach American shores.

Write your Representatives and Senators and beg them to reverse this short-sighted decision.


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Avoid the summer itch!

Here comes summer, bringing outdoor barbecues, swimming and sailing, but also sunburn, mosquito-borne illnesses and poison ivy.

Let’s focus today on the itchy rash that plagues so many.

Poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac share the same sap oil, urushiol, in their roots, stems and leaves. The oil is colorless and odorless, so it may not be obvious that you have it on your skin. You can spread it from one part of your skin to another without knowing it.

About 2/3 of adults develop dermatitis after getting urushiol on their skin, typically 1-2 days after contact, though it may be delayed if a first contact.

The rash is red and bumpy and intensely itchy, and is often in streaks, reflecting brushing against the plant. If severe, blisters may develop. The rash typically clears in 2-3 weeks.

Treatment is for symptoms, not cure, and includes wet compresses, calamine lotion and topical steroid creams. If it is very extensive or involves sensitive areas like the face or genitals, oral steroids can be prescribed.

Much better is prevention. If you think you have been exposed, wash your entire body with mild soap; water alone will not remove the oil, which penetrates the skin. Use a soapy brush under the nails. Wash any clothing that may have contacted the oil in warm soapy water.

Pets can carry the oil on their fur and pass it to you when you touch them, so bathe them if they have run through the plants.

Best, of course, is to avoid contact!

Poison ivy usually has three broad, tear-shaped leaves. It can grow as a climbing or low-spreading vine that sprawls through grass and often grows along rivers, lake fronts and ocean beaches. It is found everywhere in the continental U.S.

Poison oak has leaves that look like oak leaves and it grows as a vine or a shrub. The plant can have 3 to 5 leaflets per group. It is most common in the western U.S.

Poison sumac has seven to 13 leaflets per stem that are characterized by smooth surfaces and pointed tips. It is most often found in wooded, moist areas of the southern U.S.

Summer will be a lot more fun without the itch!


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Should parents "do their own research" on vaccines?

A few months ago, I was unsure which cabinet member was least qualified for their role, but it is now clear that Robert Kennedy Jr. can claim this dubious distinction. Not only is he temperamentally and by experience unfit to head a massive government agency, but he is actively fighting against the agency’s purpose.

Measles is a highly contagious disease that is 98% preventable by vaccination. Because measles spreads so easily, about 97% of the population must be vaccinated to prevent outbreaks.

The very success of vaccination in reducing childhood diseases has led many parents to worry less about these diseases. Measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, and whooping cough were once “the usual childhood diseases” but should now be rare. Polio should be exceedingly rare.

Instead, 2025 has seen 935 cases of measles to date, 121 (13%) of whom were sick enough to be hospitalized, and 3 children have died. 96% of those sickened have been unvaccinated. There have also been outbreaks in Canada, with Ontario and Alberta the hardest hit.

The U.S. has also seen whooping cough make a comeback. In 2024 there were 35,000 cases reported and 10 deaths.

Mr. Kennedy’s solution is to “do research on treatments” for measles, though the remedies he suggests such as cod liver oil have been extensively studied for decades and found worthless.

Kennedy has made himself wealthy from his vaccine-denial activities, earning a large salary from his foundation, Children’s Health Defense, and getting kick-backs from lawyers by sending them parents to join class-action suits against vaccine manufacturers. Children’s Health Defense is an activist group mainly known for anti-vaccine advocacy and is one of the main sources of misinformation on vaccines.

Instead of urging parents to vaccinate their children, as recommended by every medical group that has studied this subject, Kennedy suggested “parents should do their own research.” For most parents, this does not mean careful review of published scientific studies but rather going on Facebook or other social media platforms, where misinformation abounds.

Vaccines, while not 100% perfect, are very effective and very safe. Vaccines do not cause autism. This claim has been studied by numerous groups over recent decades and demonstrated to be false. While nothing we inject or ingest is 100% safe, the risks from vaccines are much less than the risks of the diseases they prevent.

Parents who care about their children should listen to their pediatrician and get their kids vaccinated so these ancient scourges can remain history and not current plagues.


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