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 Newport News, Virginia teacher is set to file a lawsuit against the local school district after she was shot and critically wounded by a six-year-old student.
New guidance, proposed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), seeks to limit levels of the dangerous heavy metal lead in food for babies and toddlers.
President Joe Biden has announced that the United States would be delivering 31 Abrams Tanks to Ukraine as the country heads into a new phase of its war against Russia.
A farmworker accused of killing seven people in back-to-back shootings at two Northern California mushroom farms was charged Wednesday with seven counts of murder and one of attempted murder.
