Microsoft Research Head: ChatGPT Not Suitable For Making First Diagnoses
Microsoft’s head of research Peter Lee said that while the use of AI in medicine is exciting, the current technology is perhaps too error-prone, biased, and susceptible to inventing information to be used as a tool to help physicians make important initial diagnoses.
Stat:
Microsoft's Peter Lee Says ChatGPT Shouldn't Be Used For Initial Diagnosis
Surging interest in generative AI among medical professionals since ChatGPT’s launch is perhaps a testament to its potential — but it could also lead clinicians, and patients to experiment with it before there is wider consensus on how to navigate its biases and other pitfalls, Microsoft’s head of research Peter Lee said Thursday at STAT’s Breakthrough Summit. (Ravindranath, 5/16)
In other industry news —
Modern Healthcare:
Kaiser Permanente Cuts Seattle’s Yesler Terrace Medical Tower
Kaiser Permanente is reversing its plans to build a $500 million medical tower in Seattle's Yesler Terrace neighborhood. Kaiser confirmed this week its decision to step back from a years-long project that involved building a nine-story, roughly 250,000-square-foot facility. (Hudson, 5/16)
Reuters:
GSK Raises $1.5 Bln From Sale Of Remaining Haleon Stake
British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L) has raised 1.25 billion pounds ($1.52 billion) from a sale of its remaining stake in consumer healthcare company Haleon (HLN.L) to institutional investors. The sale will allow GSK to sharpen its focus on vaccines, cancer and infectious diseases, which are part of CEO Emma Walmsley's plans to boost earnings at the drugmaker. (5/17)
The Wall Street Journal:
Surging Hospital Prices Are Helping Keep Inflation High
One reason U.S. inflation is still high: Increases in prices for procedures to prop open clogged arteries, provide intensive care for newborns and biopsy breasts. Hospitals didn’t raise prices as early in the pandemic as supermarkets, retailers and restaurants. But they have been making up ground since then. Their increases have contributed to stubbornly high inflation readings from the consumer-price index, which in April increased 3.4% from a year ago. (Evans, 5/16)
The Wall Street Journal:
Roche Shares Climb After Weight-Loss Drug Shows Efficacy In Early-Stage Trial
Roche Holding said its weight-loss drug candidate achieved positive results in an early-stage trial, giving the company a boost in its bid to catch up to Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly in a class of medicines that has shaken up everything from pharma to snack companies.The Swiss drug giant joined the race for drugs to treat obesity and diabetes through its $3-billion-plus purchase of Carmot Therapeutics. (Calatayud and Chopping, 5/16)
Reuters:
Lilly's Weekly Insulin As Effective As Daily Doses In Studies
Eli Lilly (LLY.N) said on Thursday its once-weekly insulin injection, efsitora, showed blood sugar reduction that was consistent with commonly used daily insulins across two studies in patients with type 2 diabetes. Lilly and Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) are both developing weekly injections for long-acting insulins that could reduce the treatment burden for patients with diabetes. Novo's weekly injection, insulin icodec, has been recommended for approval in Europe and is under regulatory review in the United States. (5/16)
Reuters:
Biogen, Ionis To Discontinue Development Of Experimental ALS Drug
Biogen (BIIB.O) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS.O) said on Thursday they will terminate the development of their experimental treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) after failing to show improvement in patients in an early-to-mid stage study. Shares of Biogen and Ionis were each down nearly 2% in premarket trading. This marks another setback in the search for new treatments for ALS. (5/16)
Philadelphia Inquirer:
ChristianaCare Attending Physicians File Unionization Petitions
Physicians at ChristianaCare, Delaware’s largest health system, are petitioning to form the first union in the Philadelphia region for hospital-employed attending doctors. Doctors increasingly are looking to unions to advance their workplace concerns and negotiate their benefits, as a growing number of physicians work as hospital staffers. (Gutman, 5/16)
KFF Health News:
The Lure Of Specialty Medicine Pulls Nurse Practitioners From Primary Care
For many patients, seeing a nurse practitioner has become a routine part of primary care, in which these “NPs” often perform the same tasks that patients have relied on doctors for. But NPs in specialty care? That’s not routine, at least not yet. Increasingly, though, nurse practitioners and physician assistants are joining cardiology, dermatology, and other specialty practices, broadening their skills and increasing their income. (Andrews, 5/17)
