Healthcare – Newswire Report

Study behind updated FDA guidance shows self-swab tests are as effective as those done by clinicians

April 9, 2020April 9, 2020 NewsEditorBill & Melinda Gates Foundation, coronavirus, COVID-19, Healthcare, infection, university of washington

Earlier this week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it would be updating its guidance to allow self-swab tests for COVID-19, in which a patient collects a sample for their own nose for a health professional to test. On Wednesday, UnitedHealth Group revealed the results of a peer-reviewed large scale study that provided the science behind the decision to switch to the less-invasive sample collection method. The self-swab process doesn’t change where FDA-approved testing can happen – this expanded guidance only applies to the method of collection,…

Odds and Ends

EU lawmakers are eyeing risk-based rules for AI, per leaked white paper

January 27, 2020January 27, 2020 NewsEditorAI, artificial intelligence, Europe, european commission, European Union, facial recognition, General Data Protection Regulation, Healthcare, law enforcement, surveillance, thierry-breton

The European Commission is considering a temporary ban on the use of facial recognition technology, according to a draft proposal for regulating artificial intelligence obtained by Euroactiv. Creating rules to ensure AI is ‘trustworthy and human’ has been an early flagship policy promise of the new Commission, led by president Ursula von der Leyen. But the leaked proposal suggests the EU’s executive body is in fact leaning towards tweaks of existing rules and sector/app specific risk-assessments and requirements, rather than anything as firm as blanket sectoral requirements or bans. The…