What now? A $2.35 million NIH grant to train Arizona State University doctoral students to build artificial intelligence-backed tools to diagnose and treat neurodegenerative diseases is the agency’s latest contribution to the fight. The project will connect molecular scientists, AI experts and local research institutions like Mayo Clinic with students to develop AI medical imaging technology.
“Artificial intelligence will continue to revolutionize health care, changing and improving the way we approach the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases, including Alzheimer’s,” Baoxin Li, a computer science and engineering professor at ASU who is part of the research team, said in a statement.
“Successfully preparing researchers for this future is essential,” he said.
Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are taking advantage of Medicare and America’s seniors. It's time for Congress to act. Rein in PBMs by requiring them to increase transparency, share discounts with seniors, and delink PBM profits from the cost of medicines in Medicare. Congress must pass S. 2973 and S. 3430 this year. Learn more.
WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE
New York, N.Y. | Matt Bradley
This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care.
A lawsuit filed against chatbot platform Character.ai alleges the bot instructed two minors to harm themselves and others and caused them to develop mental health issues. The company was sued in October on similar grounds.
A bill introduced in the California legislature would require social media platforms to show users a black box warning that says social media use puts children and adolescents at risk of mental health harm. The box would appear when users first log on and once a week afterward.
State Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, a Democrat, is sponsoring the bill with support from Attorney General Rob Bonta. “If Congress wants to pass a bill and the president wants to sign it, fantastic, do it, but we’re not going to wait for it,” Bonta said at a press conference Monday.
California has led in passing legislation to regulate social media companies. In September, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law creating tight rules for collecting and sharing kids’ data. The law requires features that protect kids from predators and lessen their risk for addiction and other harms.
“This is California stepping up and doing what the federal government should also do, which is what Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general, asked them to do,” Jim Steyer, a prominent civil rights attorney who founded the nonprofit Common Sense Media, said at the press conference. Steyer said he expects similar legislation in other states.
Bonta is also suing Facebook parent Meta and TikTok, alleging these platforms inflicted harm on young users.
Why it matters: Congress has lagged behind states in passing laws to protect kids from the potential negative impacts of social media use.
In July, the Senate passed the Kids Online Safety Act by a 91-3 vote. But the bill has stalled in the House because of concerns that it violates free speech. On Saturday, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) proposed updates to the bill to satisfy those concerns. President-elect Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and tech mogul Elon Musk, who donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the Trump campaign, support the legislation.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is so far unmoved.
Even so: California’s rules have faced repeated lawsuits from the tech industry. The state’s age-appropriate design law, which would require tech companies to consider kids’ safety and privacy when designing platforms, has been held up while courts determine whether it violates free-speech protections.
If the latest bill passes, Bonta expects NetChoice, a trade association for online businesses, to sue.
A message from PBM Accountability Project:
There’s consensus in Congress – real PBM reform is needed NOW.
Both sides agree we need to: improve transparency, break the link that allows PBMs to tie their profits to the price of the drug, and force PBMs to share discounts with seniors.
Congress: It is time to finish the job and pass bipartisan senate bills 2973 and 3430. America’s seniors are counting on it. Learn more.
REGISTER NOW: As the 118th Congress ends, major decisions loom, including healthcare appropriations. Key focus: site neutrality. Can aligning hospital and clinic costs cut federal spending, reflect physician costs, and lower patient expenses? Join policymakers and providers to discuss.
REALLY?
Doctors in Slovakia's public health system could be forced to continue working after resigning. | Radovan Stoklasa/TASR via AP
Proposed legal changes submitted to Slovakia’s parliament could force doctors in the country’s public health system to continue working after resigning.
How so? More than 3,000 physicians resigned this fall in protest of populist left Prime Minister Robert Fico’s plan to rein in doctors’ pay raises, POLITICO’s Giedre Peseckyte reports.
The notice period for many of them ends in January.
But the government passed an amendment to the civil protection law to force doctors to continue working. That ensures citizens’ constitutional right to health protection and free health care, the government argues.
The proposed change, which parliament must still approve, would enable authorities to declare a health care state of emergency. Resignation notices would be suspended until the state of emergency is lifted.
The state of emergency could last up to 60 days, with the possibility of extending it another 60 days. Doctors who refuse to work during that period could face criminal charges.
Health Minister Kamil Šaško denied local media claims that doctors could face imprisonment for refusing to work.
Last month, the Slovak parliament partially reversed planned pay-raise cuts for health care workers, but doctors have maintained their resignations.
Why it matters: The threat of mass resignations and legal proposals to counter their effect on the Slovak health care system highlights the challenge of balancing pay increase demands with budget constraints in countries with publicly funded health care.
It’s not the first time Slovak doctors have resigned en masse, Peseckyte reports.
In 2011, authorities declared a state of emergency following widespread resignations and Czech military doctors stepped in to assist Slovak hospitals.
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