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.
The recent wildfires and ensuing smoky air led to a spike in emergency room visits.
The Pentagon said it will train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets for its war against Russia.
The Kremlin said it had no role in Wednesday's plane crash that presumably killed Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and some of his top lieutenants.
Cheddar News checks in with a coast-to-coast forecast of the weather for Friday, Aug. 25, 2023.
Anyone in the U.S. who had an account at any time between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022, is eligible to receive a payment. The 2022 settlement resolves a lawsuit alleging that Facebook allowed millions of its users’ personal information to be fed to Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Ashkan Bayatpour was convicted Wednesday of a state misdemeanor charge of assault and battery in a case that was remarkable for breaking through the CIA’s veil of ultra-secrecy and playing out in a public courtroom where it has emboldened a sexual misconduct reckoning.
Four people were arrested Wednesday in connection with the kidnapping of newborn twins in Detroit.
North Korea's second attempt to launch a spy satellite into orbit failed.
A pre-trial detention was extended for The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich until Nov. 30 by Moscow.
Authorities in Oklahoma have named convicted BTK serial killer Dennis Rader as the prime suspect in two unsolved cases.
