Health

In medicine, the cautionary tales about the unintended effects of artificial intelligence are already legendary.There was the program meant to predict when patients would develop sepsis, a deadly bloodstream infection, that triggered a litany of false alarms. Another, intended to improve follow-up care for the sickest patients, appeared to deepen troubling health disparities.Wary of such flaws, physicians have kept A.I. working on the sidelines: assisting as a scribe, as a casual second opinion and as a back-office organizer. But the field has gained investment and momentum for uses in medicine and beyond.Within the Food and Drug Administration, which plays a…

Why It Matters: A disease with a toll that is difficult to imagine.An estimated 100,000 people in the United States have sickle cell disease, most of whom have African ancestry. Sickle cell shortens lives, injures organs and bones and causes episodes of searing pain that can repeatedly send patients to emergency rooms, or lead to lengthy hospital stays.A report by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review said that for people who don’t have sickle cell disease, “it is hard to understand the physical, emotional and mental toll.” People with the disease, the report added, “not only described intense fatigue,…

The bulge on the side of Peggy Hudson’s belly was the size of a cantaloupe. And it was growing.“I was afraid it would burst,” said Ms. Hudson, 74, a retired airport baggage screener in Ocala, Fla.The painful protrusion was the result of a surgery gone wrong, according to medical records from two doctors she later saw. Using a four-armed robot, a surgeon in 2021 had tried to repair a small hole in the wall of her abdomen, known as a hernia. Rather than closing the hole, the procedure left Ms. Hudson with what is called a “Mickey Mouse hernia,” in…

The City University of New York is pausing its investigation into a faculty member, an Alzheimer’s researcher accused of misconduct, the university said in a statement on Friday.Studies by the neuroscientist, Hoau-Yan Wang, underpin an Alzheimer’s drug in advanced clinical trials. The drug, simufilam, is made by Cassava Sciences, a pharmaceutical company based in Texas. Dr. Wang frequently collaborated with Lindsay H. Burns, the company’s chief scientist.“Because questions regarding the confidentiality and integrity of this investigation have been raised, CUNY will stay the underlying inquiry into the allegations regarding Dr. Wang’s research until such time as the University completes a…