State sues after bot impersonates doctor | FDA adds surgical devices to shortage list after Medline recall | AI opinion pieces

The digital entity gave at least one end-user a phony medical-license number. Unfortunately for the chatbot, that end-user was a state investigator. 

Regulators said the shortages of neurosurgery devices are likely to extend until the end of the year. Medline recalled its neurosurgical patties due to a potential toxicity issue. The FDA said it's looking for alternatives. 

When AI fails to thrive in healthcare, the problem is usually not with an algorithm. It’s with something deeper. Three unrelated opinion pieces authored by far-flung subject matter experts hit on this theme just this week. 

The insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group said the shift is part of its ongoing effort to eliminate the barriers between care delivery and medical coverage. The full list of services exempt from prior authorizations includes diagnostic tests and many outpatient surgeries.

“When hospitals that were once competitors merge, prices go up—often by double-digit percentages—with no measurable improvement in patient outcomes.”

Hospital-at-home inpatient care is no worse than its traditional counterpart at facilitating good clinical outcomes for reasonable overall costs. In fact “HaH” is sometimes considerably better on both those scores.

Boca Raton Rehabilitation Center called claims made in the lawsuit by a former employee, Nuella Joseph, “unsubstantiated.” Joseph, a nurse, said the facility has a cleanliness problem that led to bug infestations in resident rooms.

The more you maintain good physical fitness from your mid-40s to your mid-60s, the likelier you are to add years to your life and life to your later years. 

Speaking at a Politico health care policy forum, CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, said he supports Medicaid, adding that “when you love something, you protect it.”

Matthew S. Davenport, MD, MBA, and Scott B. Reeder, MD, PhD, made their plea to patients and providers in an opinion piece published May 6 in JAMA.

When patients land in the emergency room, a history of cannabis use may increase their risk of an adverse outcome.