“U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., revealed today that an anti-abortion political group used mobile phone location data to send targeted misinformation to people who visited any of 600 reproductive health clinics in 48 states. In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission, Wyden urged the government to act quickly to… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Medicine
Atrocious Air
First Street: “Since the middle of the last century, the United States has witnessed significant changes in air quality, driven by industrialization, technological advancements, regulatory measures, and public awareness. The most important of these interventions was the Clean Air Act of 1963, which served as the first federal legislation addressing air quality concerns. While air… Continue Reading
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 11, 2024
Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 11, 2024 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on… Continue Reading
UnitedHealth uses AI model with 90% error rate to deny care, lawsuit alleges
Ars Technica: “Health insurance companies cannot use algorithms or artificial intelligence to determine care or deny coverage to members on Medicare Advantage plans, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) clarified in a memo sent to all Medicare Advantage insurers. The memo—formatted like an FAQ on Medicare Advantage (MA) plan rules—comes just months after… Continue Reading
New paper explains why females are prone to autoimmune diseases
Ars Technica: “Eighty percent of patients with autoimmune diseases are female. These diseases are one of the top 10 leading causes of death for women under 65, and cases are increasing annually worldwide. There is evidence suggesting that it’s females’ double complement of X chromosomes that puts them at such heightened risk for autoimmune diseases.… Continue Reading
Is your medication out of stock? Here’s how to get it anyway
Vox: “..Before you do too much work, it’s worth seeing whether an independent pharmacy in your area can locate a supply of the drug you need. They’re less likely to just say “We’re out of stock — we can’t get it,” says Beckner. “They’re going to explore other means to try to obtain that drug.”… Continue Reading
It’s time to admit that genes are not the blueprint for life
Nature: The view of biology often presented to the public is oversimplified and out of date. Scientists must set the record straight, argues a new book. How Life Works: A User’s Guide to the New Biology Philip Ball Pan Macmillan (2024) For too long, scientists have been content in espousing the lazy metaphor of living… Continue Reading
Keep Your Abortion Private & Secure
Digital Defense Fund: “This page is organized into different security-related threats. You can jump to the ones that most concern you. Along with each scenario is a list of digital security tips to neutralize the threat! These are possible concerns you might have: Seeing advertisements related to pregnancy/abortion Tech companies like Facebook and Google storing… Continue Reading
Making the Greatest Medical Library in America
NLM: “On a quest to bring together and catalog the world’s medical knowledge, John Shaw Billings, an Army surgeon and book collector who oversaw the U.S. Surgeon General’s library (today known as NLM), acquired approximately 300 pamphlets from the private collection of the renowned French physiologist Claude Bernard in 1878. Later that year, these scientific… Continue Reading
How to Make the Most of Your At-Home Covid Test
The New York Times [read free h/t Pete Weiss]: “While Covid has become a regular part of respiratory virus season, community testing centers and drive-through sites where you could determine whether it’s the source of your sniffles have all but vanished. At-home tests are still a valuable tool to protect yourself and others from the… Continue Reading
The Guys Who Killed Toys R Us are Coming for Doctors
skepchick: “This post contains a video, which you can also view here. You may be aware that here in the United States, we have a less than ideal healthcare system. For instance, compared to our neighbors to the north, we enjoy slightly shorter wait times for some procedures in exchange for worse coverage, higher cost,… Continue Reading
Access to abortion pills has grown since Dobbs
Vox: “Eighteen months after the Dobbs v. Jackson decision that overturned the constitutional right to abortion, and with a new Supreme Court challenge pending against the abortion medication mifepristone, confusion abounds about access to reproductive health care in America. Since the June 2022 decision, abortion rates in states with restrictions have plummeted, and researchers estimated… Continue Reading
