Viewpoints: AI Needs Safeguards Against Promoting Disordered Eating; Long Covid Sufferers Feel Forgotten
Opinion writers discuss AI, long covid, autism and more.
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Opinion writers discuss AI, long covid, autism and more.
Jesse Thomas, AP reports, is framing himself as a "no-nonsense Republican." He formerly led the Medicaid plan offered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield locally. Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, the attorney general objected to rate increases requested by the state's health insurers.
Google "10,000 steps" and you'll find many reports mentioning health and that number of paces per day, but NBC News covers a new study that shows health benefits from walking a mere 4,000 steps daily — though benefits did ramp up with more steps. Also in the news: women's problem drinking.
A bipartisan group of senators is pushing for federal tax regulators to make sure nonprofit hospitals are living up to their mandates for supporting their local area with free or low-cost care to people with low incomes. Also in the news, controversy around a union effort to cap hospital CEOs' pay.
A large study of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, started in 2018, finds that the anti-obesity treatment cut the chances of heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular deaths by 20%. The study raises questions about how employers and insurers will cover the pricey drug.
Preliminary research by an international collaboration between dozens of scientists associated long covid with people who carry a version of a single gene, FOXP4. In other long covid news, NIH efforts to research possible therapies are in question.
The 19th reports activists are calling the number and severity of anti-LGBTQ+ provisions added to "must-pass" funding bills an "unprecedented attempt" by lawmakers to restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ people. Meanwhile, Florida bans AP Psychology because of its discussion of gender identity.
Abortion-rights activists want to ask Arizona's voters to amend the state constitution to protect abortion rights, AP says. Meanwhile, in Utah, courts are considering a case influenced by what the state's attorneys argue was the "original public meaning" of the 1895 state constitution, which didn't guarantee abortion rights.
AP says voters "resoundingly" rejected a Republican-led effort to make it more difficult to change Ohio's constitution — meaning an abortion rights amendment effort in the fall has a lower bar to reach. Meanwhile, Politico explains why the vote wasn't a particularly close race, but USA Today reports why the November vote is still a challenge.
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial writers discuss abortion rights, OTC birth control, covid and more.
The Missouri Independent says that although federal law requires states to conduct an unannounced inspection at least every 15 months for health and safety compliance, many homes haven't had an inspection for two or more years. Among other news, worries over West Nile virus in Colorado.
In other public health news: a remarkable lung transplant in two people with organs flipped left to right compared with normal anatomy; the Air Force and Space Force are offering new mental health referrals; worries over AI influencer trends and mental health; and more.
CDC data from 2021 show only around 1 in 5 adults with an opioid use disorder received medications to help treat them, despite the fact that over 80,000 people died from opioid overdoses that year. Experts say that access to the meds is tougher for Black adults and women.
The new study says women 70 and older who underwent mammograms were more likely to be diagnosed with tumors that actually posed no threat to their health, compared to those who were unscreened. Separately, a study found Black men have lower melanoma survival rates.
Merck, which makes the Antivenin medication, only sells between 300 and 800 vials per year, and is saying it's back in supply. Separately, the WHO warns over a batch of contaminated cold syrup made in India — part of an ongoing problem with manufacturing quality.
EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows encouraged feedback on how workplaces would be affected, as well as ways to assist employers and workers in understanding the law. Other reproductive health news is on the postpartum depression pill, the closing of maternity wards, and more.
Last week, a court ruling saw parts of the surprise billing law vacated, and this has now resulted in the federal government stopping processing payment disputes between providers and insurers over out-of-network bills, Modern Healthcare reports. Axios notes insurers sometimes pay double for the same procedure versus Medicare Advantage prices.
News outlets report on the rapid spread of a new covid variant labeled EG.5, unofficially known as "Eris," which may be among the fastest-spreading yet due to a mutation. Meanwhile, the Chicago Tribune notes covid cases are ticking up as summer comes to an end, and The Washington Post explains why it may be hard to find covid tests.
The outcome of today's election — which will decide whether to raise the threshold for amending the state constitution from 50% to 60% — likely will have broader implications for the 2024 election and beyond. Turnout for the special election has already blown away expectations.
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