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DoctorGPT: AI’s rising role in Gainesville healthcare
Alachua County Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Taylor said the department uses AI for administrative tasks but remains wary of bringing the technology into patient care.
Community health centers maintained care continuity during COVID-19 pandemic
As the COVID-19 pandemic upended virtually every aspect of people's lives, one critical question loomed large for millions of low-income and underserved healthcare patients: Would they still be able to see their own doctor?
Woman, 26, Had Excessive Itching but Was Told 'It's Just One of Those Things.' She Then Self-Diagnosed Her Cancer (Exclusive)
A young woman suffered from excessive itching and was dismissed by multiple doctors, before she eventually self-diagnosed herself with cancer. Sumbul Ari recalls her health journey in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE.
Doctors expose ‘buffalo hump’ as potential sign of hidden health conditions
A "buffalo hump" — a fatty bulge at the base of the neck — can sometimes signal underlying medical conditions, experts say. Causes range from poor posture to hormonal disorders.
Black Maternal Health Week highlights disparities, solutions at Hampton Roads conference
Held as part of the national awareness week from April 11 to 17, the conference brought together doctors, nurses, social workers and midwife advocates to address inequities in maternal health care and outcomes.
New clinic brings at-home health care to La Plata, San Juan counties
HERMOSA – The practice of a doctor traveling to a patient’s home to deliver care – as opposed to the patient traveling to a medical campus or visiting a doctor in an office – is largely bygone. Accord...
Your wishes, your voice: Ochsner doctors encourage families to plan ahead for National Healthcare Decisions Day
Every year on April 16, National Healthcare Decisions Day serves as a reminder that medical emergencies rarely arrive with warning. When they occur, the decisions surrounding treatment often must be
“AI polls” are fake polls
A few weeks after Donald Trump’s second presidential win, I took the train up from London (where I was living at the time) to Oxford to attend a conference on polls and forecasts of the 2024 election. Most of the attendees were pollsters or academics, but I also watched presentations from Aaru and Electric Twin, two companies that do what is interchangeably called synthetic sampling, silicon sampling, or synthetic audiences. Stripped of startup jargon, that means they use large language models (LLMs) to simulate responses to public opinion polls by having AI agents take on the role of survey respondents. I had already heard of Aaru thanks to some articles with eye-catching headlines like “No people, no problem: AI chatbots predict elections better than humans” in the months leading up to Election Day. The founders were making some big, some might even say far-fetched claims, such as: “within two years, we will simulate the entire globe — from the way crops are grown in Ukraine to how that impacts production of oil in Iraq, trade through the strait of Malacca, and elections for the mayor of Baltimore.” When Semafor asked Aaru’s cofounders — Cameron Fink and Ned Koh — about my boss, they said “we respect all those who came before us.” Nate (as he so often does) shared his thoughts on Twitter: Fink and Koh were relatively good-natured about this back-and-forth when we spoke at Oxford. They even offered to mail me one of the t-shirts featuring Nate’s quote they apparently had made. I never took them up on the offer, which I now somewhat regret. These synthetic sampling companies fell off my radar for a while, but they do still exist. In fact, Aaru recently received a $1 billion valuation. Is what they’re doing anywhere close to the most important frontier in AI development? Not by a longshot, especially when Anthropic just developed a model so adept at exploiting software vulnerabilities that it’s only being released to 40 companies. Still, silicon sampling is increasingly finding its way into public polling. Axios reported in March that “a majority of people trust their own doctors and nurses” based on findings from Aaru — without mentioning that the “people” in that sentence were actually LLMs. Around the same time, the Public Sentiment Institute “boosted” their online sample of 373 real survey respondents with 114 AI agents.1 (Spoiler alert: even the co-founder of Electric Twin doesn’t think that’s a particularly defensible approach.) Polling companies like Qualtrics and Ipsos are also developing synthetic data panels. So, what should we make of these … “polls”? Let’s get one thing out of the way: whatever they are, they’re not polls in the way that term is usually defined. Subscribe You can’t replace polls with AI On one hand, using LLMs to essentially make up fake survey respondents sort of sounds like the dumbest idea ever, one that will at best imperfectly replicate real polls while introducing all sorts of biases. On the other hand, with LLMs improving at a remarkable, perhaps even alarming rate, maybe that means I’m a dinosaur at the ripe old age of 24 because I still want to rely on polls that talk to actual people. I’m not going to argue that synthetic samples are completely useless. In fact, as I’ll return to later, there is evidence that some techniques can replicate topline survey results quickly and cheaply. But the marketing from certain companies can be slightly optimistic. “No traditional poll will exist by the time the next general election occurs,” said Fink in 2024. We’re just 206 days away from the midterms, and based on the fact that I still have to collect a bunch of polls every day, I’d say he should have run that prediction by a sample of AI agents before the interview.2 To see why synthetic samples can’t replace polls, here’s a quick primer on how they work. The simplest version of these models involves taking a LLM (like ChatGPT or Claude), giving it a demographic profile (e.g., a white, college-educated woman who lives in Utah and makes $70k a year), and then asking it to respond to a survey question. You repeat that process a few thousand times using different demographic profiles and end up with a sample of synthetic survey responses. The actual models used by private companies are more sophisticated than this, usually because they incorporate more hypothesized demographic characteristics for each agent and provide them with extra information. Aaru, for example, feeds agents a diet of news and information they’d be likely to consume, while Electric Twin incorporates their customers’ proprietary data about the audience they’re trying to replicate. The way Ben Warner, the co-founder of Electric Twin, explained it to me was “we have a large amount of data on […] for instance, 5,000 people. Can we make an accurate prediction of how they would respond to another question?” Still, it should be obvious why synthetic samples can’t replace polls. Polling is fundamentally a data collection process. We might use surveys to make predictions by feeding them into election forecasts, but the main purpose of a poll isn’t prediction, it’s gathering new data about what people think and how they feel. Silicon sampling, on the other hand, produces no new data. It’s simply a model: you input LLM training data, demographic prompts, and a bunch of other information, and it spits out a prediction for what a poll would say. We love models here, but models aren’t polls. That difference is an important philosophical sticking point for most pollsters I talk to. “I think politics should stay away from [synthetic sampling], because we’re trying to […] represent the voice of the people,” said Natalie Jackson, a vice president at GQR Insights. Democratic pollster John Hagner told me: “I think I’m just incredibly skeptical of this idea. I don’t think it’s research. At that point, you’re asking the machine to tell you what you already believe.” Hagner has seen some presentations of early synthetic sampling experiments, but so far, “if it’s being used in a campaign, people are keeping it incredibly quiet.”3 But Eli, I hear you saying, aren’t polls themselves increasingly governed by modeling decisions? Indeed they are: pollsters’ choices on which sampling method to use, how to define their likely voter models, and how to weight their samples can and do lead to dramatic differences in the results they publish. Aaru even referenced these limitations in the methodology statement included with that maternal mortality “poll” — although I’m using the term “methodology statement” loosely here, because it doesn’t really explain how the model works at all. We can ignore the (frankly preposterous) implication that synthetic sampling isn’t subject to a separate set of biases. The important point is that there’s still a meaningful difference between using weighting and other statistical techniques on actual polling data and using a model to predict what a poll would say. The latter is far closer to election forecasts or techniques like MRP — potentially useful models, but not a replacement for polls.4 To be fair, other synthetic sampling companies are perfectly happy with the distinction between polls and models. Warner compared polling and synthetic sampling to different tools in a toolbox. “The mistake I think we make is we think that these new tools should either work in exactly the same way or somehow replace these old tools,” he said. “Rather than thinking of it as, okay, so we’ve always had the hammer, we’ve always had the screwdriver, now we’ve got a saw. But don’t use a saw to try [to] do the job of a hammer.” A quick comment from Nate Eli didn’t ask me for a comment — rather rude of him, don’t you think? But since I’m editing this story, I figured I’d add a few quick thoughts rather than putting words in his mouth. Beyond the frequently misleading marketing, what bothers me about the AI “poll” hype is that as AI tools make statistical inference cheaper and/or better (note that these are not synonyms) that actually increases the comparative value of collecting original data. You might be able to train a model to make a reasonable estimate of what some hard-to-reach poll respondent would say — say, a young Black man who voted for Trump. (Such a person checks a number of boxes for a voter who is usually hard to reach in surveys.) Indeed, this is closely related to what models like the Silver Bulletin forecast already do. They essentially smooth out the kinks in noisy survey data by making inferences based on past voting patterns or national polls or surveys of other states. But you don’t actually know what these voters think unless you’re reaching them directly. If there’s a shift in opinion among this subgroup, you’re not going to detect it. So if I were running a campaign, I’d invest more in going the extra mile to find a representative sample of those voters. And then I’d hire some smart quants — or Claude? — to figure out the implications for campaign strategy based on proprietary data that my competitors didn’t have access to. -Nate Silver Are these models any good? If synthetic surveys are just a new type of model, the next obvious question is whether the models are at least accurate. The answer very much depends on who you ask. On one end of the spectrum, you have the maximalist argument that synthetic sampling is more accurate than actual polls. “It’s an incredibly challenging problem to go to someone and say ‘hey, we’re going to be more accurate at predicting human behavior than you, even when you talk to your customers directly’,” Koh recently told CNBC. In his view, synthetic sampling isn’t a saw to polling’s hammer, it’s “magic.” There’s certainly evidence that synthetic samples can replicate certain survey toplines. But if Aaru does have any examples of their approach outperforming the polls, they’re keeping those to themselves.5 Aaru’s 2024 election model, for example, had Kamala Harris leading in Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin on November 4th. And although they’ve since taken down their forecast page, they gave Harris a 50.5 percent chance of winning the race on November 2nd.6 After the election, Fink told Semafor he was happy enough with those results because they were “within margin of error,” a term that is completely meaningless when applied to a “sample” of AI agents. And of course, Aaru says their models have improved since 2024, so supposedly now they’d be more accurate than the polls? Still, their stronger argument is on cost: “We are significantly faster and cheaper than traditional polling, and still more accurate,” said Fink. The first two claims are undeniably true, but the third brings us to the opposite end of the spectrum. Both Jackson and Hagner are skeptical that these models are reliable for anything beyond replicating common survey toplines. “I just […] don’t think the machines are what we want when we’re looking for nuanced views. My example on this is people in Arizona and Nevada in 2024 who voted for Trump and voted for expanding abortion in their states on ballot initiatives,” said Jackson. Hagner identified another issue. Maybe the synthetic respondents, like sycophantic LLMs, are inhuman in one important way: they’re too nice. “The reports that have come through at the meetings that I’ve been at are that the early experiments on this, they cannot get respondents to be as racist or sexist or, frankly, as negative as human respondents,” he said. Academic research mostly agrees on this point. While there are some papers that show promising results when using LLMs to replicate polling data, most show that LLMs suffer from various quirks like producing too few “don’t know” responses and can seriously overpredict the favorability of politicians like Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. They also seem to struggle with too little variation between demographic subgroups, so the difference in predicted opinion between Democrats and Republicans, for example, is too small. When I asked Warner about these studies, his response to these papers was that just because academics can’t get synthetic sampling to work doesn’t mean that the technique doesn’t work in general. “Actually, the argument is, okay, yours does not [work]. That does not mean […] for this complex set of machinery, which uses a lot of investment, a lot of time, a lot of money, you can’t get it to work.” Cards on the table, I’m somewhat sympathetic to this argument because academics aren’t exactly great at making election forecasts. Usually, the people with skin in the game are the most accurate. Warner’s argument is that the approach Electric Twin takes — which includes, for example, making multiple predictions for each synthetic respondent using different models and prompts and subsequently averaging those to get a final prediction in a sort of ensemble forecast — produces better results than the simpler academic models. Warner shared a comparison between his method and the method from a recent academic paper with me, and Electric Twin was indeed able to get more accurate replication. But even still, he acknowledged that synthetic sampling “is not a crystal ball.” “If you asked me, do I think using other data sources will be more accurate than asking somebody who they will vote for, I would probably say no. But if you asked me ‘would your system be useful for our turnout modeling today?’ I would say yes.” For better or worse, it looks like the method is already getting more popular in the market research world. Most of the clients Aaru touts these days are businesses like EY and McDonald’s. And AI will probably begin to pop up in other parts of the political polling process. Pollsters are already using it to code open-ended survey responses, and some firms, like YouGov, are testing using LLMs to ask survey respondents questions. More worryingly, one danger to actual polls is that AI agents can be used to infiltrate online surveys. Most online polls use various checks to prevent that from happening, but there’s conflicting evidence on how effective those filters are and how prevalent AI agents currently are in online panels. If those agents ever become impossible to detect, it might spell the end of online polling, but the solution isn’t to replace all of your respondents with ChatGPT. Silver Bulletin is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a subscriber. Subscribe 1 That particular poll obviously doesn’t meet Silver Bulletin standards for aggregation. But we exclude all Public Sentiment Institute polls from our averages because we classify them as an amateur polling firm. 2 You could argue that Fink meant the next presidential election, but (a) I’m also confident we’ll still have real polls in 2028 and (b) in that case he should have asked an LLM to define “general election.” 3 Quick caveat: that’s reporting from a Democratic pollster. It’s possible that Republicans are more willing to use AI in political campaigns. 4 Indeed, Silver Bulletin does not include “polls” produced by MRP in our forecasts or averages, and we think it’s extremely misleading when their practitioners describe them in a way that suggests original data had been collected among a large number of states or Congressional districts. 5 A recent report from Aaru and EY did show two examples of a synthetic estimate being closer than a survey to a real-world benchmark — but I’d take those findings with a grain of salt because the report reads more like an ad and didn’t involve any sort of prediction being made ahead of time. 6 For comparison, our odds for Harris on the same day were 48.2 percent.
Memorial Hermann and BCBSTX reach a new deal, restoring in-network coverage, hospital says
The Houston-based health system and the insurance giant had previously let an April 1 deadline pass without a new agreement, meaning many patients across the region were forced to pay higher medical costs or find new doctors.
These women had their breasts removed to thwart cancer. Then came the pain.
Many women are afflicted by post-mastectomy pain syndrome, which spans from uncomfortable to disabling and can last years. It’s inconsistently diagnosed and treated, leaving some women in agony as they hunt for relief and struggle to find doctors who take their pain seriously.
Jelly Roll’s Blood Test Results Are a Wake-Up Call: What Blood Tests Should Your Family Actually Be...
Jelly Roll’s blood panel results stunned his doctors. If you manage your family’s health, his story is worth reading.
Energy drink boom raises heart health concerns, doctors warn
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — As energy drinks continue to grow in popularity, health experts in Fort Wayne are raising concerns about what frequent consumption could be doing to the heart. Many of the…
Science students find mentorship and pathways to career success
Batool Abdulruhman and Alyssa Rivera both grew up in rural Valley communities where doctors are scarce and medical care is difficult to access. Now they are on a path to become doctors practicing in the Valley because of the support and mentorship they received through the Center for Access to Science for All (CASA) in […]
Photos: Makeup tests, shoulder cuff health and student presentations
Darryna Guy-Williams, a bioengineering and bio chemistry major, sprays Jenna King, class TA and postdoctorate candidate in chemistry and chemical biology, with a facial hydrating mist in Leila Deravi’s cosmetic chemistry class.
Bitter medicine: How California’s hospital bills end up depressing your take-home pay
Hospitals are suing a state agency that limits their cost increases. Their bills inflate health insurance premiums, leaving employers with less money for wages.
Menopause products are having a hot minute. But doctors urge women to be wary of the marketing surge
Women suffering through the hot flashes, night sweats, mood changes and sleep problems that can come with menopause — all while looking in the mirror and noticing signs of aging — are being bombarded with products.
Meta’s New AI Asked for My Raw Health Data—and Gave Me Terrible Advice
Meta’s Muse Spark model offers to analyze users’ health data, including lab results. Beyond the obvious privacy risks, it’s not a capable stand-in for a real doctor.
Women's health forum in Naples offers free insights from local doctors
The annual Women's Health Forum in Naples offers free educational sessions with 25 local physicians on various health topics.
Study finds acne scarring linked to mental health impacts; Doctors urge early treatment
Acne scars may affect more than your skin — new research shows deeper impact.
Conservative Activists Take Aim At Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship
A new lawsuit filed by a legal advocacy nonprofit says a 35-year-old federal scholarship program that brought Native Hawaiian doctors to the islands is unconstitutional.
Science history: Doctor hypothesizes that 'transmissible proteins' can cause disease, contradicting a 'central dogma' of molecular biology
Prion diseases, such as "mad cow," are caused by transmissible proteins that were identified in the 1980s.
Syrian Doctors Fight Infant Blindness After War
Syrian American ophthalmologists are banding together to improve pediatric tests for retinopathy of prematurity
A public health high point
Record-setting cohort of doctoral graduates highlights expansion, resilience and burgeoning demand
RFK Jr. says he's launching a podcast to expose 'lies' that have made Americans sick
The show will launch next week and feature Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine crusader who has reshaped the country’s health policy, in conversation with doctors, scientists and agency staff.
College of Health Professions’ Audiology Program Achieves No. 18 in Country
The Doctor of Audiology (AuD) program at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences ranked No. 18 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report.
Unexplained shoulder pain could signal dangerous health condition, doctor warns
While shoulder pain is often the result of rotator cuff problems, injuries, arthritis, nerve problems, or other orthopedic and muscular issues, it can also signal a dangerous health condition.
Mass. food insecurity surging; Doctor warns of growing health impacts
More than one-third of households struggled to access enough food in 2024.
Rural health care in focus: NC lawmakers raise concerns over shortage of nurses, doctors
There aren’t enough nurses and doctors in North Carolina, state leaders say, a problem that’s particularly acute in rural areas. Meanwhile, cuts to Medicaid and other economic factors threaten rural hospital closures.
Lady Gaga 'so sorry' to cancel concert at doctor's urging
Lady Gaga canceled her Montreal Mayhem Ball Tour show due to illness, as advised by her doctor.
Study shows support is falling for AI in health care
In a national survey of 1,007 adults, results showed just 42% are open to AI being used as part of their care.
Trump’s immigration crackdown may put doctors out of jobs
Trump administration policy changes are putting a growing number of immigrant doctors in limbo. Some hospitals have already lost doctors, a loss felt across the communities they serve.
Video: Opinion | Who Really Controls Your Health Care?
In the first episode of Times Opinion’s new series “Divided,” a doctor and a former insurance executive confront a central question: Do insurance companies prioritize profit over patient care?
Opinion | Health Insurance Companies Care About You. Agree or Disagree?
We put a doctor and a former insurance executive in a room.
Public trust in AI in health care is slipping, survey finds
Artificial intelligence seems to be everywhere—in our jobs, in our homes and at the doctor's office. While the use of AI grows, a new survey commissioned by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center ...
Doctors warn that Israel is targeting Lebanon’s health care system, as it did Gaza’s
Israel has increasingly targeted Lebanese first responders and medical centers, forcing several hospitals to evacuate.
Scientists solve 30-year mystery of a hidden nutrient that protects the brain and fights cancer
Scientists have finally uncovered the missing link in how our bodies absorb queuosine, a rare micronutrient crucial for brain health, memory, stress response, and cancer defense. For decades, researchers suspected a transporter had to exist, but it remained elusive—until now. By identifying the gene SLC35F2 as the gateway into cells, this breakthrough opens new possibilities for therapies and highlights how diet and gut microbes profoundly shape human health.
Rising healthcare costs, insurance premiums now worry Americans more than any other domestic issue: poll
Rising health insurance premiums and expired Obamacare subsidies are driving healthcare affordability to the top of Americans' domestic concerns in 2026.
Doctors warn that Israel is targeting Lebanon's health care system, as it did Gaza's
Since the war between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah reignited on March 2, Israel has pushed deeper into southern Lebanon
Dr. Peggy Smith continues to serve teen health needs in Houston for more than 50 years
As Women's History Month comes to an end, ABC13 introduces a woman who's been passionate about teen health for more than 50 years.
'Your doctor, your price': Byron Donalds rolls out health care plan
'We're going to make sure that there is transparency in health care.'
To lower cholesterol, these patients got a one-time tweak to their genes
Doctors have never had so many cholesterol-lowering drugs at their disposal, but getting patients to take them every day is difficult. Gene-editing could open a new frontier.
Breaking a sweat isn’t easy: Mental health barriers to physical activity
Exercise has long been referenced as a way to clear the mind, take away stress or combat mental health disorders, according to postdoctoral scholar and research associate in the University of Wisconsin Wellbeing and Exercise Laboratory Madeleine Connolly. Practices such as yoga in India and tai chi in China have connected the mind and body through...
Lawmakers seek permanent funding for referral hotlines connecting families to mental health care
A bill heard by a Rhode Island Senate panel last week would fold funding for telephone hotlines used by pediatricians and family doctors to connect kids and parents to mental health treatment hotlines into a health department program funded by insurer contributions.
Bhatti: Republicans must restore, strengthen health care after gutting it
Michigan doctors worry about healthcare cuts by Trump and Republicans, impacting Medicaid and low-income families.
Doctors volunteer to help Americans cut off from health care by the cost
Deadly disease is coming back — doctors say they haven't seen it for ‘years and years’
When hospitals become corporations, what happens to patient safety?
In many medical malpractice cases, the public imagines a careless doctor making a single catastrophic mistake. In reality, serious medical errors are often the result of systemic pressures that pus…
Is it okay to eat standing up? A doctor weighs in.
That grab-and-go lunch might be the real problem.
Commentary: When stars’ plastic surgery is played for your entertainment
Often when I’m scrolling through Instagram, hypnotized by the stream of videos, an actress’ face will cut through the noise. This isn’t a typical clip from a press junket or red carpet. Instead, it will feature side-by-side images of the star, one younger and one more recent. Then a content creator – perhaps a doctor or an aesthetician, sometimes wearing scrubs – will walk me through what cosmetic procedures they think the actress has had. (It’s much rarer that men get this kind of analysis.)
New cases of a deadly bacterial disease alarm doctors
The Hib vaccine drastically cut cases of a once feared contagious disease. New cases in unvaccinated kids feed concern that Hib may have a resurgence.
Future of healthcare: Could AI someday replace doctors?
Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel gives his take on technology’s role in medicine on ‘The Ingraham Angle.’
Recurring fevers, mental fog left this father ‘praying for death’
Doctors were stumped by an Oregon man’s deterioration. Then an infectious disease specialist had an aha moment.
TheBodyPro: HIV-associated lipodystrophy persists as a health concern in the modern ART era
Lipodystrophy remains a real and present issue among HIV patients today — both as a legacy matter and as a still-emerging concern with a significant impact.
I Personally Guarantee You Won't Be Able To Keep A Straight Face While Looking At These 31 Pictures That Are Impossible Not To Laugh At
Just what the doctor ordered.
We Asked a Doctor If Omega-3 Supplements Can Support Heart Health
Omega-3 fatty acids are widely known to support heart health, but supplementing with them may not be as effective as getting them from food. Learn whether omega-3 supplements can help boost your heart health.
‘We watched them die before our eyes’: Sudan health workers helpless amid medical shortages
As violence forces tens of thousands to flee Sudan’s South Kordofan state, doctors in a key maternity hospital are facing impossible choices – with too few supplies, too many patients, and lives slipping away.
How gender-affirming care is becoming a political test for top medical groups
The country’s largest organization representing doctors is being pressed by Republican attorneys general on health care for trans youth.
'He got screwed': Former UVA Health CEO files defamation suit against lawyers over patient harm allegations
The former head of UVA Health is pushing back against allegations made by more than 30 doctors that his practices, policies, and procedures caused harm to patients.
Doctors, nurses arrested in SoCal health care fraud investigation
The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday announced what they called a major health care fraud takedown throughout Southern California, which included the arrest of doctors and nurses.
Vanderbilt Health lung transplant patients, doctors climb highest peak in the Americas
Aconcagua, elevation 22,837 feet, is one of the Seven Summits, the highest peaks in each continent. Two Vanderbilt Health patients participated.
Sports medicine doctor: How to select your best running shoes
This sports medicine physician, who runs regularly, said finding the right running shoe and not overusing it can help prevent injuries.
Sports medicine doctor: How to select your best running shoes
This sports medicine physician, who runs regularly, said finding the right running shoe and not overusing it can help prevent injuries.
Sports medicine doctor: How to select your best running shoes
This sports medicine physician, who runs regularly, said finding the right running shoe and not overusing it can help prevent injuries.
Dayton health dept. launches hub showing community health data
The data includes community health outcomes, environmental measures, emergency preparedness data and more.
Doctors blamed her symptoms on motherhood. She actually had mold illness.
Kate Ames spent years battling chronic symptoms like fatigue and joint pain. She later learned there was mold in her home that was making her sick.
A deadly bacterial disease is returning, doctors warn, as vaccination rates fall
Hib once killed 1,000 children a year, permanently disabling many more. Doctors who've never seen the disease say the comeback is changing the way they practice medicine.
New York Is a Hot Spot for Alpha-Gal. Why Doesn’t the State Track Cases?
In more than 10 states, laboratories or doctors must notify the state health authorities of each positive test for a marker of the syndrome.
THC vapes used by teens impacting their health, doctors say
A small device, illegal to use in New York until age 21, is having ripple effects on schools.
Houston doctor shares infertility journey, urges women to ‘own your health’ at Rebuilding HER conference
Dr. Chi Johnson, a Houston family medicine physician, shared her personal and professional experiences with infertility at the Rebuilding HER conference, highlighting the challenges Black women face in being heard by healthcare providers.
Digital heart twins can guide a lifesaving procedure
The "digital twins" helped doctors spot good targets for heart ablation in 10 patients. Months later, all of them are free of sustained faulty rhythms.
Roseanne Barr, 73, fears she will 'die on the surgery table' after doctor told her she has a 'damaged' heart
Roseanne Barr says she isn't interested in getting surgery after a doctor told her she has a 'damaged' heart. The actress said she would prefer to 'just get a heart attack or a stroke' and be put in hospice care.
Raw milk cheese is tied to E. coli outbreak: What to know, according to a doctor
While food safety experts renew warnings not to consume raw milk or cheeses made from it, consumers continue to seek these products. A doctor breaks down the issue.
Washington doctors are sounding alarm on cannabis health effects, survey shows
More than a decade after recreational cannabis was legalized in Washington, a new survey of health care providers suggests many clinicians are concerned about its effects on patients’ mental health.
A slowdown in US visa processing is wreaking havoc on foreign doctors’ lives
Physicians from countries Trump deemed national security threats are reaching the end of their visas without responses to their renewal applications.
Health care polling as top issue for first time since 2020: Gallup
Americans are more concerned about the availability and cost of health care than any other domestic issue, reclaiming the top spot for the first time since 2020, according to a new Gallup poll. The…
He was headed to medical school orientation. Instead, doctors found a brain tumor.
This 24-year-old was about to start medical school. Instead, a visit to the ER down the street turned into a brain tumor diagnosis.
In MA, Doctors’ Day becomes rallying point for health care reform
Facing federal funding cuts and growing primary care shortages, Massachusetts physicians met with legislators on March 25 at the State House.
BMA dismisses Starmer’s 48-hour warning over resident doctors’ strike plan
Prime minister threatens to withdraw NHS training posts for residents doctors if they don’t call off strike
Grad student ignites a passion for science in Angolan youth
Doctoral student Cátia Dombaxe is bringing badly needed practical science education to impoverished areas of Angola through the STEAMpact Foundation, a nonprofit she founded in 2024.
When health data lives everywhere: Rethinking privacy outside the EHR
Health privacy risks now extend far beyond medical records governed by HIPAA.
USF doctoral student receives Guy Harvey Fellowship for marine science research
University of South Florida
Sleep health overlooked: Nearly half of adults haven't talked to their health care professional about sleep
Nearly half of U.S. adults haven’t talked to a health care professional about sleep, according to a new survey from the AASM.
1% of health insurance tax could fund medical education amid Idaho doctor shortage
Idaho lawmakers are moving forward with a plan to create a dedicated funding stream for medical education as the state faces a doctor shortage.Senate Bill 1420
Germany Eyes €60 Billion in Potential Healthcare Cost Cuts
Germany can impose more than €60 billion ($68.8 billion) in cost cuts in its healthcare system by 2030 with measures such as restricting doctors’ pay, reining in drug costs and shifting the financing for welfare recipients.
After a heart attack, beta-blockers are often a lifelong medicine. Maybe they shouldn’t be
For decades, surviving a heart attack has come with a lifelong prescription: Stay on medications called beta-blockers to help protect your heart. But doctors are taking a closer look at whether long-term beta-blocker use is really necessary, especially beyond the first year of recovery.
Navigating the social media minefield
Scientists and researchers seeking to announce promising findings, exchange ideas or contribute to policy discussions outside of academic circles may find social media an expedient tool.But increasingly, scientists and other professionals are discovering that online platforms can be a double-edged sword: while sharing their work and expertise is crucial for visibility and meeting funder expectations, it also exposes them to baseless criticism and even accusations of spreading false information."It is getting harder and harder for scientists, and researchers in general, to convey their findings without facing attacks on their legitimacy and accuracy of their research," says Valère Ndior, a professor of public law at the University of Western Brittany in Brest, France, who has spent more than a decade studying misinformation on social media. Researchers attempting to challenge deceptive online information may themselves be accused of political bias or not being objective in their research, he explains, adding that some scientists disengage because they feel overwhelmed and unable to sustain meaningful dialogue. "It is quite sad to see in some instances that researchers end up leaving social media altogether because they feel like the pressure is getting too intense or feel threatened," he says.Ndior, a past president of the Francophone Network of International Law, is also involved in European efforts to make science and research findings more accessible to the public. As an ambassador for the Science Comes to Town (SCTT) project, he has participated in recent discussions on public perceptions of science and online misinformation. The European Commission-funded initiative connects Brest and two other cities — Kiel in Germany and Split in Croatia — and aims to strengthen ties between communities, universities and research institutions to promote science awareness and cooperation across Europe.Coordinated campaigns around contentious topicsNdior draws a clear distinction between critical thinking and thoughtless criticism. Yet he sees online discussions being increasingly shaped by suspicious behaviour and coordinated information campaigns — including "raids" aimed at dominating discussions and "astroturfing," where small groups act as larger movements to sway debates. Tracking these patterns has become harder because some platforms have restricted data or charge for it, despite provisions of the European Union's Digital Securities Act aimed at ensuring researchers can have access to such data. According to Ndior, "platforms became more reluctant from the moment access to data became a legal requirement rather than a voluntary initiative."Unfounded claims and scepticism about science existed long before Internet chat groups. But the noticeable rise in online hostility has intensified around contentious topics, such as the coronavirus pandemic and climate change, alongside the weakening of gatekeepers to moderate content.For Ndior, dubious claims about pandemic countermeasures and vaccine safety highlighted the struggle between "balancing freedom of expression and the protection of public health and order." Efforts to remove social media content deemed false or risky for public health triggered accusations of censorship and the silencing of legitimate discussion, and in some cases, legal challenges.Concerns about attacks on the credibility of scientists and researchers have generated a flurry of academic papers in recent years and prompted professional communities to address ways to counter online attacks. Such unease extends to the generation that has grown up with digital media. Ndior points out that his students, some of whom research artificial intelligence regulation, hate speech, online surveillance and other controversial topics, hesitate to share their work or viewpoints online. "Many of them don't want to expose themselves too much because they don't feel ready to be faced with the backlash of other people criticising their research," he explains.Safer harbours for engagementLegal challenges against false or defamatory posts are not necessarily a solution — especially given the trans-jurisdictional nature of the Internet. Lawsuits also take time and money, and if they fail, can be counterproductive. Instead, Ndior advises scientists and researchers to be selective in how and where they communicate. Professional online platforms and moderated discussion spaces offer a better environment for engagement. He also highlights the value of more traditional formats, such as radio interviews and in-person discussions at schools, libraries and science fairs, which encourage dialogue with the public. "Personal contact makes a big difference," he says, while acknowledging that these approaches lack the global reach of social media.Ndior’s interest in digital law and online misinformation stems from his time as a doctoral student in international law in the early days of social media. He began analysing posts from governments and heads of state to determine if they could be considered official and thus used as evidence in litigation. His work attracted media attention and led to conference and speaking invitations. "This was not part of my plan," he says, "but this is what happens as a researcher — your interest is sparked by a certain event or phenomenon, and it suddenly becomes your focus."Ndior believes SCTT provides "a double benefit" for researchers, enabling them to connect with peers and interact with the public. "There is a wide community of people who are not in academia who are critical thinkers looking for opportunities to ask questions, to get information and contribute their ideas,” he says. "I really value that kind of feedback."Science|Business, which connects policymakers, academics and industry through its news reporting, analysis and events, is an SCTT partner.
Navigating the social media minefield
Scientists and researchers seeking to announce promising findings, exchange ideas or contribute to policy discussions outside of academic circles may find social media an expedient tool.But increasingly, scientists and other professionals are discovering that online platforms can be a double-edged sword: while sharing their work and expertise is crucial for visibility and meeting funder expectations, it also exposes them to baseless criticism and even accusations of spreading false information."It is getting harder and harder for scientists, and researchers in general, to convey their findings without facing attacks on their legitimacy and accuracy of their research," says Valère Ndior, a professor of public law at the University of Western Brittany in Brest, France, who has spent more than a decade studying misinformation on social media. Researchers attempting to challenge deceptive online information may themselves be accused of political bias or not being objective in their research, he explains, adding that some scientists disengage because they feel overwhelmed and unable to sustain meaningful dialogue. "It is quite sad to see in some instances that researchers end up leaving social media altogether because they feel like the pressure is getting too intense or feel threatened," he says.Ndior, a past president of the Francophone Network of International Law, is also involved in European efforts to make science and research findings more accessible to the public. As an ambassador for the Science Comes to Town (SCTT) project, he has participated in recent discussions on public perceptions of science and online misinformation. The European Commission-funded initiative connects Brest and two other cities — Kiel in Germany and Split in Croatia — and aims to strengthen ties between communities, universities and research institutions to promote science awareness and cooperation across Europe.Coordinated campaigns around contentious topicsNdior draws a clear distinction between critical thinking and thoughtless criticism. Yet he sees online discussions being increasingly shaped by suspicious behaviour and coordinated information campaigns — including "raids" aimed at dominating discussions and "astroturfing," where small groups act as larger movements to sway debates. Tracking these patterns has become harder because some platforms have restricted data or charge for it, despite provisions of the European Union's Digital Securities Act aimed at ensuring researchers can have access to such data. According to Ndior, "platforms became more reluctant from the moment access to data became a legal requirement rather than a voluntary initiative."Unfounded claims and scepticism about science existed long before Internet chat groups. But the noticeable rise in online hostility has intensified around contentious topics, such as the coronavirus pandemic and climate change, alongside the weakening of gatekeepers to moderate content.For Ndior, dubious claims about pandemic countermeasures and vaccine safety highlighted the struggle between "balancing freedom of expression and the protection of public health and order." Efforts to remove social media content deemed false or risky for public health triggered accusations of censorship and the silencing of legitimate discussion, and in some cases, legal challenges.Concerns about attacks on the credibility of scientists and researchers have generated a flurry of academic papers in recent years and prompted professional communities to address ways to counter online attacks. Such unease extends to the generation that has grown up with digital media. Ndior points out that his students, some of whom research artificial intelligence regulation, hate speech, online surveillance and other controversial topics, hesitate to share their work or viewpoints online. "Many of them don't want to expose themselves too much because they don't feel ready to be faced with the backlash of other people criticising their research," he explains.Safer harbours for engagementLegal challenges against false or defamatory posts are not necessarily a solution — especially given the trans-jurisdictional nature of the Internet. Lawsuits also take time and money, and if they fail, can be counterproductive. Instead, Ndior advises scientists and researchers to be selective in how and where they communicate. Professional online platforms and moderated discussion spaces offer a better environment for engagement. He also highlights the value of more traditional formats, such as radio interviews and in-person discussions at schools, libraries and science fairs, which encourage dialogue with the public. "Personal contact makes a big difference," he says, while acknowledging that these approaches lack the global reach of social media.Ndior’s interest in digital law and online misinformation stems from his time as a doctoral student in international law in the early days of social media. He began analysing posts from governments and heads of state to determine if they could be considered official and thus used as evidence in litigation. His work attracted media attention and led to conference and speaking invitations. "This was not part of my plan," he says, "but this is what happens as a researcher — your interest is sparked by a certain event or phenomenon, and it suddenly becomes your focus."Ndior believes SCTT provides "a double benefit" for researchers, enabling them to connect with peers and interact with the public. "There is a wide community of people who are not in academia who are critical thinkers looking for opportunities to ask questions, to get information and contribute their ideas,” he says. "I really value that kind of feedback."Science|Business, which connects policymakers, academics and industry through its news reporting, analysis and events, is an SCTT partner.
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