In recent years, the $6.3 trillion global "wellness" industry has marketed itself as a viable, liberating alternative to conventional medicine — promising empowerment, "natural" health, and personal control. It taps into public distrust of government institutions, the pharmaceutical industry, and mainstream medical science. But behind its polished branding and the flood of influencer endorsements lies a darker reality: This movement is no longer just peddling ineffective supplements and worthless diagnostics; it is actively undermining science-based health policy — and putting human and even animal lives at risk.

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Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), one of the most dreaded and deadly forms of brain cancer, has been on my mind recently because one of my dog-park friends was recently diagnosed with it. Characterized by aggressive growth and resistance to conventional treatments, GBM affects more than 14,000 Americans and claims approximately 10,000 lives each year. Even with intensive treatment — including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy — the median survival time after diagnosis is 15 months, and only about five percent of patients survive beyond five years.

We desperately need new therapeutic strategies, and emerging research into advanced immunotherapy offers a glimmer of hope.

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By any measure, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is one of the most critical and ubiquitous institutions in American public life. It regulates products that account for over 20 cents of every consumer dollar, ensuring the safety of the food we eat, the drugs we take, and the medical devices that sustain and save lives. Yet, in a time of rapid technological advancement and increasingly complex health threats, the FDA has been kneecapped by a sweeping wave of layoffs executed by Trump administration budget-cutters, casting a long shadow over the future of medical innovation and public health in the U.S.

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We dog owners do many things to keep our canine companions happy and healthy. I flew from San Francisco to Albuquerque last July to pick up a four-month-old Bedlington terrier and have seldom been separated from her since. Asta (named after the Fox terrier in the old "Thin Man" films) has been the light of my life since then.

Asta in February 2025. Credit: Henry I. Miller

She gets mostly human-grade food (she loves Costco's famous rotisserie chicken) to complement a small amount of kibble and, of course, lots of exercise, cuddles, and necessary vet visits. She is often told (and understands), "I love you."

It might not be long until I can add something very important: an anti-aging pill.

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When President Donald Trump launched his aggressive trade policy agenda back in 2018, targeting China with sweeping tariffs, pharmaceuticals were conspicuously spared, unlike semiconductors, lumber, and copper, that were caught in the economic crossfire. But the real vulnerability in America's pharmaceutical supply chain wasn't found in finished pills or injectables — it lay hidden in the critical components of them: "active pharmaceutical ingredients," or APIs.

As the name suggests, these APIs are the critical active ingredients in many of the pills and injectable drugs sold in the U.S. — from antibiotics and blood pressure medications to cancer treatments. And a staggering share of them come from one place: China.

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