Recently, a federal judge in Utah came down with a disturbing ruling, essentially undercutting the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) February 2004 attempt, following the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler, to ban herbal supplements containing ephedra, which is also known as ma huang and is used for weight loss. According to the FDA, the substance increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and death. But under the peculiar and misguided law that the agency must follow in dealing with dietary supplements, such evidence may not suffice to justify regulatory action to protect the public.

Last year, when a profound schism erupted between the American scientific community and the Bush administration, a key point of contention concerned the alteration of sexual health information on several government Web sites. A National Cancer Institute fact sheet temporarily suggested the possibility of a link between abortion and breast cancer (scientists say with near unanimity that there isn't one). A statement explaining why educating teens about how to use condoms does not increase sexual activity was deleted from a Centers for Disease Control fact sheet. And so forth.