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Placebo effect is real, and complicated

8 Dec 2023

This article was originally posted in the Montreal Gazette.

When it Comes to Taking Medicine, It’s Not Only a Matter of “What,” but also “How”

27 Sep 2023

Serendipitous discoveries are legendary in science. Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, Perkin’s of mauve, Silver’s of post-it notes, Roentgen’s of x-rays, Fahlberg’s of saccharin, Plunkett’s of...

Fake Drugs, Real Problems

31 May 2023

We are drowning in fraud. Simply defined, fraud is intentional deception, usually for monetary gain. We have become used to robo-calls telling us that we have been subjected to a tax audit and had...

The Sweet Story of the Conversation Heart

3 Feb 2023

Everybody celebrates Valentine’s Day differently. Whether you plan to pick up a bouquet of roses or wear purple in protest of the gushy holiday, there’s no wrong way to spend February 14th....

Happy Birthday, Viagra

5 Apr 2018

Twenty years ago last month, a medication called sildenafil was approved by the FDA. It is perhaps better known by its brand name of Viagra. Very few medications have enjoyed such widespread pop...

Pills for the Brain

20 Mar 2017

Pop this pill and improve your memory. Swallow that one and reduce your cognitive decline. We see ads for such products all the time and I suspect they will increase as the baby boomers reach...

"Social Tonics"

20 Mar 2017

If it isn’t illegal, it must be legal. That’s why benzylpiperazine pills, under names such as Purepillz, Peaq, The Good Stuff, Frenzy and Pure Rush can be sold in Canada. And what are these pills? ...

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