A Florida mother is suing AI startup Character.AI after her son died by suicide following an emotional attachment to a chatbot, as reported by Mostly Human Media.
The big picture:AI companion app creators often claim that their bots are a cure for loneliness, but there's little evidence to back up this claim and the apps are still largely unregulated.
A group of 13 Philadelphia-area health systems is ending the inclusion of race in screening algorithms that help make clinical decisions for lung, kidney and OB-GYN care, saying they incorporate outdated assumptions about biological differences between races.
Why it matters: It's part of an intensifying push to root out systemic biases in clinical tools as AI models take on a bigger role in diagnosis and treatment.
After weathering the pandemic, purging their rolls and coping with inflationary pressures, state Medicaid offices see more upheaval on the horizon, including a presidential election that could bring enormous changes to the safety-net program.
The big picture: A KFF survey of state Medicaid directors released Wednesday paints a picture of a health program serving nearly 73 million Americans that's beset by budgetary shortfalls and higher demand for behavioral health and long-term care.
In the closing days of what he says is his last campaign, Donald Trump has launched a strategy combining splashy, attention-getting stunts with dark, apocalyptic messaging.
Why it matters: It's a scaled-up version of a familiar Trump routine — stay in the news, be provocative, deflect.
Why it matters: Harris has made protecting access to reproductive rights a central tenet of her bid for the White House — and her campaign continues to see the issue of abortion as one of its strongest issues in the final stretch.
The big picture: Ten states green-lit abortion-related ballot questions, while others — like Arkansas, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Maine — faced significant hurdles that ultimately prevented voters from weighing in on proposed measures.
The number of abortions performed in the U.S. continued to climb in 2024, increasing 11% in April to June this year, compared to the same period last year, according to a national report released Tuesday.
The big picture: In the first half of the year, there were nearly 98,000 abortions per month on average — up from 88,000 on average in 2023 and 81,400 in 2022, per the quarterly #WeCount report from the Society of Family Planning nonprofit.
IV fluids from as far away as China are being imported to the U.S. to alleviate nationwide shortages stemming from hurricane damage to a key manufacturing plant in North Carolina.
Why it matters: Hospitals now have 50% more IV fluid available to them than immediately after Hurricane Helene swamped Baxter International's North Cove manufacturing site in Marion, North Carolina, per the Health and Human Services Department. But health providers expect shortages to last weeks longer.
Women visit community health centers at almost double the rate of men, according to data the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compiled from 2022.
Why it matters: The report adds to the evidence that women are likelier to be proactive about their health — and their family's health — than men.
Infant death rates were higher than expected for several months after the Supreme Court struck down the federal right to abortion, with most of the increase coming from infants with birth defects, researchers reported on Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.
Why it matters: It's the latest evidence suggesting infants born in states with more abortion restrictions are likelier to die before they're 1 year old.
After two years of doom and gloom, digital health deals are showing signs of life, with venture capital firms making more focused bets and interest rate cuts rekindling some of the COVID-era optimism around the sector.
Why it matters: The pandemic experience was supposed to be a boon for direct-to-consumer disease treatments, digital therapeutics and decentralized care.
Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) during an event with Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday criticized GOP-led states' moves to curtail women's rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections.
Why it matters: Anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America gave Cheney an A rating for her congressional voting record, saying she had "stood up against the pro-abortion agenda of the Biden-Harris administration."
