RFK Jr.’s Major Autism Study To Use Private Health Records + More
Source: Children’s Health Defense
RFK Jr.’s Major Autism Study To Use Private Health Records
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will provide private health data to researchers for U.S. health chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new autism study.
NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya told advisers the aim is to help researchers study autism by giving them access to “comprehensive” health records. These records will cover a wide range of people across the U.S., CBS News reported.
He told the agency’s advisers that existing data resources are often fragmented and difficult to obtain.
“The NIH itself will often pay multiple times for the same data resource,” he said in the presentation, according to CBS News. “Even data resources that are within the federal government are difficult to obtain.”
The database will include records from pharmacy chains, lab testing and even fitness trackers and smartwatches. It will also pull from patients treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Indian Health Service, as well as insurance claims from private insurers. The NIH is also working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to expand access to their records.
Meanwhile, a new registry is being created to track those with autism, and that information will be part of the database, CBS News said.
Draft Executive Order Outlines Plan to Integrate AI Into K-12 Schools
The Trump administration is considering issuing an executive order that would create a policy integrating artificial intelligence into K-12 education, according to a draft circulated by the White House to several federal agencies on Monday and obtained by The Washington Post.
Under the draft executive order, federal agencies would be instructed to take steps to train students in using AI and to incorporate it into teaching-related tasks. The agencies would also be asked to partner with the private sector to develop relevant programs in schools. The draft is marked “predecisional” and could be subject to change before it is signed, or it could be abandoned.
AI is “driving innovation across industries, enhancing productivity, and reshaping the way we live and work,” the draft order reads. “To ensure the United States remains a global leader in this technological revolution, we must provide our Nation’s youth with opportunities to cultivate the skills and understanding necessary to use and create the next generation of AI technology.”
As a Nationwide Push to Ban Cellphones in Schools Grows, Congress Looks to Get Involved
A bipartisan duo of senators is looking to back the efforts a growing number of states around the country are taking to ban or limit students’ use of cellphones in classrooms.
A recent Associated Press study found that nine states have already implemented statewide restrictions related to cellphones in schools, while another 39 are exploring them. That’s caught the attention of Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., who have proposed a bill to provide federal funding to incentivize classroom cellphone restrictions.
“It’s an issue where we can come together and try to empower parents and school districts to make the right choices for their kids and their students,” Cotton said.
The legislation would provide up to $5 million to school districts nationwide to study and develop pilot programs to lay the groundwork for long-term cellphone bans.
FDA Suspends Milk Quality-Control Testing Program After Trump Layoffs
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is suspending a quality-control program for testing fluid milk and other dairy products due to reduced capacity in its food safety and nutrition division, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.
The suspension is another disruption to the nation’s food-safety programs after the termination and departure of 20,000 employees of the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the FDA, as part of Donald Trump’s effort to shrink the federal workforce.
The FDA this month also suspended existing and developing programs that ensured accurate testing for bird flu in milk and cheese and pathogens like the parasite Cyclospora in other food products.
Effective Monday, the agency suspended its proficiency testing program for grade “A” raw milk and finished products, according to the email sent in the morning from the FDA’s division of dairy safety and addressed to “Network Laboratories.”
Federal Funding Cancellation Threatens Major Diabetes Study, Researchers Say
The Trump administration’s funding cancellations could dissolve a large nationwide study that’s been ongoing for 30 years on diabetes and pre-diabetes. The research was partially conducted throughout the Midwest.
Medical professionals say the landmark Diabetes Prevention Program changed the understanding of the process of developing type 2 diabetes and created the term “pre-diabetes” — a condition in which a person’s blood sugar is higher than normal and can indicate they’re on the cusp of full blown disease. It also contributed to preventative treatments.
Mary de Groot, a professor at Indiana University School of Medicine and a principal investigator for the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study, said the project has made strides in diabetes treatment. It recently started studying the presence of heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease in the same cohort.
U.S. Asks Judge to Break up Google
The Justice Department said on Monday that the best way to address Google’s monopoly in internet search was to break up the $1.81 trillion company, kicking off a three-week hearing that could reshape the technology giant and alter the power players in Silicon Valley.
Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in August that Google had broken antitrust laws to maintain its dominance in online search. He is now hearing arguments from the government and the company over how to best fix Google’s monopoly and is expected to order those measures, referred to as “remedies,” by the end of the summer.
In an opening statement in the hearing on Monday, the government said Judge Mehta should force Google to sell its popular Chrome web browser, which drives users to its search engine. Government lawyers also said the company should take steps to give competitors a leg up if the court wants to restore competition to the moribund market for online search.
