"The Panic Virus" was named one of "The Wall Street Journal"s Top Five Health and Medicine books of the year. "The New York Times" called it a "tour de force" and wrote that "arents who want to play it safe, but are not altogether sure how, should turn with relief to this reasoned, logical and comprehensive analysis of the facts." Writing for "The Wall Street Journal", Michael Shermer said it "should be required reading at every medical school in the world. ... a lesson on how fear hijacks reason and emotion trumps logic. … A brilliant piece of reportage and science writing." "The Panic Virus" was a finalist for the "Los Angeles Times" book prize in the "Current Interest" category. It won the New England Chapter of the American Medical Writers Association's Will Solimene Award for Excellence and the National Association of Science Writers 2012 “Science in Society” Award