cHATBOTS
FDA eyes tighter regulations for mental health products that use generative AI
Adobe
Mark your calendars — the Food and Drug Administration will soon convene experts to discuss challenges around regulating mental health products that use artificial intelligence. The announcement arrives as a growing number of companies release chatbots powered by large language models with unpredictable output.
Notice of the Nov. 6 meeting of the Digital Health Advisory Committee, published Thursday in the Federal Register, says newly released mental health products using AI pose "novel risks and, as mental health devices continue to evolve in complexity, regulatory approaches ideally will also evolve to accommodate these novel challenges."
The agency has yet to provide clear guidance on how it plans to regulate these devices or what developers must do to show they are safe and effective. But it's clear the risks are real, as I detailed in my story last week about ChatGPT and other generative AI tools driving users into delusional spirals. Read more from STAT's Mario Aguilar.
lgbtq
HIV infections could soon rise
Two studies published this week arrived at similar conclusions: changing U.S. health policies towards HIV medication and treatment clinics could lead to thousands of avoidable infections and billions of dollars of increases in health care costs.
A JAMA Network Open report found that a 3% decline in PrEP coverage could lead to 8,618 avoidable infections and a cumulative lifetime medical cost of $3.6 billion. The other study from Annals of Internal Medicine simulated severe cuts to the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which serves more than half of the people diagnosed with AIDS in the U.S. The authors' most conservative analysis suggested 34,051 excess infections.
Promising HIV prevention drugs and the rise of PrEP have transformed the AIDS epidemic into a more manageable challenge, one that could someday end. But it's been a rough year for those dreams, and for people with HIV and the providers who research and treat it. The Trump administration reduced federal funding for HIV prevention programs and the GOP's tax bill slashes Medicaid, the most common avenue for receiving treatment. Meanwhile, Gilead Sciences, the largest maker of HIV medicines, is also trying to boost treatment prices.
the Nuclear option
Should physicians go on strike?
In a new First Opinion essay, a physician and medical professor argues that it might be time. If health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. does not resign before Oct. 19, which marks the beginning of National Health Education Week, then doctors should consider a limited strike, writes Richard L. Kravitz. He believes that Kennedy's upheaval at HHS — defunding research, canceling mRNA vaccine contracts, firing ACIP members, and more — is an "undisciplined assault on biomedical research and public health."
By a "limited" strike, Kravitz means only a few days at a time. "The goal would be to emphasize the gravity of the situation and mobilize the public, not to hold out indefinitely until Kennedy steps down," he writes. Read more about how to decide if it's the right time for a physician strike, and how such action usually plays out.
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