February 14, 2025
(KFF Health News) – Flu has been brutal this season. The CDC estimates at least 24 million illnesses, 310,000 hospitalizations, and 13,000 deaths from the flu since the start of October. At the same time, the bird flu outbreak continues to infect … Read More
February 14, 2025
(New York Times) – It is the first ruling in a case challenging “shield laws” intended to protect doctors in states that support abortion rights who send abortion pills to states with bans. In a case that could have major … Read More
February 14, 2025
(The Walrus) – Singles—and their parents—are turning to algorithms for help with arranged marriages In India, marriage has long been the province of intelligence: the mind over the heart, sound reasoning exercised by the leadership of families to maintain their … Read More
February 13, 2025
(Wall Street Journal) – Patients who contest denials face a daunting process, but many are successful. ‘This appeal saved my life.’ Health insurers process more than five billion payment claims annually, federal figures show. About 850 million are denied, according … Read More
February 13, 2025
(Politico) – The Colorado case underscores the broader struggle of states — many of which are facing budget shortfalls this year — that cover weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for state workers. Over the past three years, a growing … Read More
February 13, 2025
(The Verge) – Google will soon use machine learning to estimate the age of its users. In an update on Wednesday, Google said it’s testing a machine learning model in the US to help determine whether someone is under 18, allowing … Read More
February 13, 2025
(MIT Technology Review) – Rodriguez and his wife, Maria Fernandez, who live in Miami, thought they would never hear his voice again. Then they re-created it using AI. After feeding old recordings of Rodriguez’s voice into a tool trained on … Read More
February 12, 2025
(The Verge) – OpenAI is releasing a significantly expanded version of its Model Spec, a document that defines how its AI models should behave — and is making it free for anyone to use or modify. The new 63-page specification, up … Read More
February 12, 2025
(NBC News) – Actor Scarlett Johansson is urging lawmakers to regulate the use of artificial intelligence after her likeness was used without her consent in a fake viral video that appears to show a handful of celebrities protesting the rapper … Read More
February 12, 2025
(Cincinnati Enquirer) – An Indiana family says Cincinnati Children’s won’t put their 12-year-old daughter on its heart transplant waiting list because of her vaccination status. Janeen Deal, who is related by marriage to Vice President JD Vance’s half-siblings, said the hospital requires her daughter … Read More
February 12, 2025
(Military.com) – Marine Corps drill instructors are a national symbol of discipline. But for some, their imposing persona belies a dark reality. Logan Sowell’s suicide in July 2021 is one of at least seven in the past five years involving … Read More
February 12, 2025
(Associated Press) – Ebola cases in Uganda have risen to nine, while 265 other people were being monitored under quarantine, health authorities said Tuesday. The nine include the first victim, a male nurse who died the day before the outbreak was … Read More
February 12, 2025
(The Hill) – A federal judge in Boston has ordered a temporary pause nationwide on plans by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to substantially reduce “indirect” research payments to universities, medical centers and other recipients. Judge Angel Kelley of … Read More
February 12, 2025
(Ars Technica) – A dairy worker in Nevada has been infected with a strain of H5N1 bird flu—genotype D1.1—that has newly spilled over to cows, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed. The worker experienced conjunctivitis (pink eye) … Read More
February 12, 2025
(The Walrus) – Surgeons promised to make me whole. No one asked what I wanted I was born missing an ear. What followed was years of well-intentioned violence from a medical system bent on solving the “problem” of my body. … Read More
February 11, 2025
(Nature) – Plastics have infiltrated every recess of the planet, including your lungs, kidneys and other sensitive organs. Scientists are scrambling to understand their effects on health. A sliver of human brain in a small vial starts to melt as … Read More
February 11, 2025
(MedPage Today) – A federal judge on Tuesday ordered government agencies to restore public access to health-related webpages and datasets that they removed to comply with an executive order by President Trump. U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington agreed to issue … Read More
February 11, 2025
(Axios) – The luster is starting to wear off GLP-1 weight-loss drugs including Wegovy and Ozempic as more clinicians warn patients about side effects and other potential risks stemming from their surging demand. Why it matters: Research showing the drugs not … Read More
February 11, 2025
(New York Times) – The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a multibillion-dollar global health initiative started under President George W. Bush, has brought hope to H.I.V.-positive mothers across Africa, and put the end of AIDS within reach. Through H.I.V./AIDS … Read More
February 11, 2025
(New York Times) – At times, Kevin Roose writes, it feels like he is watching policymakers on horseback trying to install seatbelts on a passing Lamborghini. World leaders, tech moguls and assorted hangers-on (including yours truly) are gathered in Paris … Read More
February 11, 2025
(STAT News) – Attorneys general representing 22 states sued the Trump administration on Monday, asking a federal judge to temporarily block a major policy change by the National Institutes of Health that would substantially limit payments for research overhead to … Read More
February 11, 2025
(BBC) – Four major artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots are inaccurately summarising news stories, according to research carried out by the BBC. The BBC gave OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot, Google’s Gemini and Perplexity AI content from the BBC website then asked … Read More
February 10, 2025
(Prospect) – In the UK, thousands of people are still dying every year from exposure to the asbestos fibres in our homes, schools and workplaces. My dad was one of them The time between exposure to asbestos and mesothelioma symptoms … Read More
February 10, 2025
(Washington Post via MSN) – A number of studies suggest an association between the risk of dementia and sleep aids, both prescription and over-the-counter, although existing research has not proved a specific cause-and-effect, according to experts. Conclusions are difficult because of several confounding variables. For example, evidence finds … Read More
February 10, 2025
(CNN) – The newer variant of avian influenza that recently infected dairy cattle in Nevada has a genetic change that’s thought to help the virus copy itself in mammals — including humans — more easily, according to a new technical brief from … Read More
