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.
Mexico and others have warned about the risks posed by the wrecking-ball-sized buoys that Texas installed in one section of the river.
Federal regulators are warning consumers that now-recalled lots of the Tydemy birth control pill “may have reduced effectiveness” due to decreased levels of a key ingredient of the product.
A Connecticut man was given nearly $300,000 in fraudulent Home Depot credit by walking into stores in several states, taking expensive doors and then returning them without a receipt, federal prosecutors allege.
A woman who escaped her kidnapper by punching her way out of a cinder block cell at a home in southern Oregon may have spared other women from a similar fate by alerting authorities to a man they now suspect in sexual assaults in at least four more states, the FBI said.
After no big winner Tuesday night, the Mega Millions jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.25 billion. If someone wins it all on Friday, when the next Mega Millions drawing takes place, the prize would be one of the largest in U.S. lottery history.
A Louisiana woman is suing the makers of the weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Mounjaro over alleged severe stomach problems.
Actress Leah Remini is suing the Church of Scientology and the head of the institution for harassment and defamation.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, announced their divorce on Wednesday.
Cheddar News checks in with a coast-to-coast forecast of the weather for Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023.
A federal jury acquitted a Louisiana state trooper accused of beating a black man during a traffic stop.
