BIAS IN CANCER DIAGNOSIS
A new study published yesterday in Jama found that a test used to diagnose patients with lung cancer had a built-in racial bias. The algorithm in the software used to diagnose patients assumed that Black people had naturally weaker lung capacity, raising the threshold for recommending care and making it less likely that they would be prescribed medication. According to the study, up to 40 percent more Black men would have been diagnosed with breathing problems if the bias had been corrected. The study also pointed out that this specific test isn't the only place where racial bias affects medicine. Prejudices and assumptions about racial differences affect patients looking for heart and kidney care as well.
WARNING ABOUT PAYMENT APPS
There's a new warning for people who store money in payment apps like Paypal, Venmo, and Cash App. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPC) said that the funds may not be secure in the case of a crisis, because while traditional bank accounts are secured up to $250,000, money held in a payment app doesn't have the same protections. So if one of these companies ever had a funding issue or was forced to close, customers could lose their money.
A volcano spewed out ash for a second day Wednesday on Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, throwing clouds of dust high into the sky and blanketing wide areas.
Police body camera video released Tuesday showed the chaotic moments when police arrived at the scene of a mass shooting at a bank in downtown Louisville, as the shooter they couldn't see from the street rained bullets down on them.
President Joe Biden is in Northern Ireland on Wednesday to participate in marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to this part of the United Kingdom after the U.S. helped negotiate an end to decades of sectarian violence that killed thousands.
The bank employee who opened fire at his Louisville workplace targeted people he knew with a rifle that was bought legally a week earlier, police said Tuesday.
For all the procrastinators out there, Tax Day is just one week away. It falls on April 18 this year instead of April 15, because of the weekend and the DC Emancipation Day holiday on Monday. T
The United States Postal Service (USPS) is seeking approval to raise the price of fist-class mail stamps from 63 cent to 66 cents. This comes just four months after the agency raised the price from 60 cents as an offset to inflation. The overall plan aims to hike prices by 5.4 percent, which would add up to a total of 32 percent in raises since early 2019.
Idaho prosecutors have suggested motives, showed graphic photos and described a complicated plot involving efforts to cast out evil spirits in the triple murder trial of a woman accused in the deaths of her two kids and a romantic rival.
A new poll shows that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults are at least somewhat likely to go electric when it comes time to buy a new vehicle.
Nashville’s governing council voted Monday to send Justin Jones straight back to the Legislature four days after he was expelled for his role in a protest on the state House floor.
China has flexed its military prowess in a recent large-scale exercise in seas around Taiwan.
