A federal judge rejected efforts by major social media companies to dismiss nationwide litigation accusing them of illegally enticing and then addicting millions of children to their platforms, damaging their mental health. The decision covers hundreds of lawsuits filed on behalf of individual children who allegedly suffered negative physical, mental and emotional health effects from social media use including anxiety, depression, and occasionally suicide. (Reuters)
President Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, are set to announce an agreement that would see Beijing crack down on the manufacture and export of fentanyl, according to people familiar with the matter. Under the deal — which is still being finalized — China would go after chemical companies to stem the flow of both fentanyl and the source material used to make the deadly synthetic opioid, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the agreement. (Bloomberg)
UnitedHealth Group used an algorithm to cut off payments for seriously ill Medicare patients who needed rehab stays. UnitedHealth subsidiary NaviHealth pushed employees to keep Medicare Advantage patient rehab stays to 1% of the days provided by the algorithm. (STAT News)
AI experts have become increasingly concerned that deepfakes – or false images and videos – could supercharge health misinformation on anything from vaccines to treatments. “We really need to be vigilant about it and try to get a hold of it now when it’s still a bit nascent,” said Chris Doss of RAND Corporation. (Axios)
Evoke Pharma secured another U.S. patent for its nasal spray Gimoti, with its shares rising on the news. The new patent involves nasal formulations of Gimoti’s active ingredient metoclopramide and Evoke said it will seek a listing of the patent in the Food and Drug Administration’s ‘Orange Book.’ (MarketWatch)
