Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Virtual Reality Could Circumvent Some Challenges To Diagnosing Pedophilia
Stat: Using Virtual Reality To Diagnose Pedophilia Stirs Up Controversy
A handful of scientists are testing a controversial practice of using virtual reality to diagnose pedophilia in men in hopes of helping them manage their sexual desires before they act on them. Pedophilia, a psychiatric disorder, affects up to 5 percent of men, according to the American Psychiatric Association. But it’s difficult to study because researchers don’t want to use real photos of children to measure arousal. So they’re turning to 3-D animated characters and virtual reality.It’s not foolproof, and it’s raised concerns among some psychiatrists who fear the computer-generated images could stimulate the men’s interest in children. (Seervai, 8/12)
NPR: Why Doctors Want A Computerized Assistant For Cancer Care
A computer may soon be able to offer highly personalized treatment suggestions for cancer patients based on the specifics of their cases and the full sweep of the most relevant scientific research. IBM and the New York Genome Center, a consortium of medical research institutions in New York City, are collaborating on a project to speed up cancer diagnoses and treatment. (Kim, 8/12)
Athens Banner-Herald: Athens Orthopedic Won't Pay For Extended Credit Monitoring In Data Breach
The hacker who infiltrated the computer system at Athens Orthopedic Clinic “has attempted to extort the clinic for ransom money,” the business said in a prepared statement released late Friday. In the same prepared statement, the clinic also said it would not pay for extended credit monitoring for the thousands of victims of the hack, two of whom indicated in a Friday story in the Athens Banner-Herald story they were dissatisfied with the clinic’s response to the data breach. (Thompson, 8/12)
Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Pokemon Go Players Hit The Streets – And Lose Weight
Professors and researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health published an editorial in a campus publication this month speculating that Pokemon Go and other so-called augmented reality games could be "very useful" in encouraging young people to be more active....To be sure, the health benefits of Pokemon Go are so far largely anecdotal, but health care professionals are taking notice and are cautiously optimistic about what may still turn out to be a summer fad. (Wells, 8/12)
