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.
Listen up! At least 21 people in New York City have had their fancy Apple headphones stolen right off their heads by a roving team of moped-riding bandits, police say.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimated that more than 38,000 minnows died with 5,500 additional species of fish, amphibians, and crayfish also possibly impacted by the toxic spill.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a commemorative event on the occasion of the Russia Ukraine war one year anniversary, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
Transgender youth in Tennessee would be banned from receiving gender-affirming care under legislation currently headed to Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s desk.
Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh has denied killing his wife and son but admitted lying about when he last saw them alive while testifying in his own defense.
