| | | | |  | | By Daniel Payne, Toni Odejimi, Erin Schumaker, Ruth Reader and Carmen Paun | |  Hwang | Courtesy: Abridge | | | Health tech company Abridge, whose advanced artificial intelligence system is used by major health providers from Emory Healthcare to Sutter Health, has tapped a new leader to take on the uncertain policy landscape for the AI industry: Tim Hwang. Hwang, who previously worked with Inflection AI and Google as its public policy lead on AI, looks to guide Abridge through the legal, safety and policy frameworks that the public and private sectors are developing. Policymakers’ path forward: While acknowledging the importance of the AI regulations, he also points to a sort of hype cycle around the policymaking for AI. Despite the buzz around AI legislation that spans sectors, Hwang is predicting more practical applications to come into focus — like Pittsburgh-based Abridge’s product, which turns patient-provider conversations into clinical notes. While waiting for that framework, tech companies are creating their own standards to ensure they can confidently ship products, Hwang told Daniel. That means the AI developers should take responsibility for their outcomes. "We take credit for the successes," he said. "But I think we also take responsibility, right, if there’s any issues with technology." Even so: Hwang isn’t worried that potential bad actors in the industry will ruin the landscape for everyone, a concern expressed by some industry leaders. "We have confidence in the market’s abilities to differentiate between products that are here for the long term and products that are going to be more of a flash in the pan," he said.
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Huletts Landing, N.Y. | Erin Schumaker/POLITICO | This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Magnesium supplements, popularized through a sleep drink recipe on TikTok, might not have clear benefits for sleep quality, but in low doses, they don’t hurt either, according to NPR. Doctors continue to recommend leafy greens, seeds, nuts, salmon, beans, whole grains and yogurt, all good sources of magnesium, over the "sleepy girl mocktail." Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com, or Toni Odejimi at aodejimi@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp.
| | |  Companies are looking to have their say in the developing rules around AI. | AFP via Getty Images | Seeing the growing number of groups looking to write rules about how AI is used in health care, one company is exploring a new way into the conversation. Health AI developer Akido is creating an ethics council to ensure its advanced artificial intelligence is being deployed safely and effectively, the company said in an announcement shared first with Future Pulse. The council, which includes members representing Caltech’s Merkin Institute for Translational Research and the Department of Surgery Innovation Hub at USC’s School of Medicine, will work to create standards for AI use in health care organizations. What’s the focus? The guidance for AI tools will focus on providing the best patient care — but also on population-level public health goals and transparency in creating and using the systems, George Tolomiczenko, who represents CalTech on the council, said. And that work is urgent, the members said, because AI tools are being rolled out faster in some cases than the auditing capabilities or oversight frameworks meant to ensure they’re working as intended. "This plane is already in flight, and for better or worse, it’s already up there — there’s going to be a lot of turbulence," Brad Selby, who represents USC on the council, said. "This council is to help guide that flight and make sure we can land this plane safely." Why it matters: The council comes amid a flurry of industry efforts to regulate their technology in the absence of settled regulations — especially as some researchers have sounded the alarm about bias in systems or unreliable outcomes over long periods. The leaders of Los Angeles-based Akido’s council hope to fit into that ecosystem and, at least in part, drive the conversation around the frameworks that will come to guide AI tools in health care. It could also mean getting ahead of requirements from government regulators, expected to be developed in the coming months and years — or "preemptive governance," as Akido CEO Prashant Samant said. "You're being cognizant of the guardrails and the impact of choices on patients," he said, "so you're not running into a scenario where you've created a massive health and safety concern and then you're reeling back from it after the fact."
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Researchers are tracking a veterinary anesthetic detected in overdoses. | Patrick Sison/AP | An emerging adulterant in opioids was detected in five overdoses across three states, according to a recent study in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The study was the first to track the effects of medetomidine, a veterinary anesthetic, in humans. Because research on the drug is sparse, scientists don’t know its short- and long-term effects. "[A research lab] found medetomidine, which we had been starting to find in the illicit drug supply itself, but hadn’t really been reported in actual biological samples from people yet," Dr. Evan Schwarz, a study coauthor, told Toni. The researchers analyzed blood samples from more than 1,300 patients who visited emergency rooms for suspected opioid overdoses in Missouri, Pennsylvania and Colorado from August 2022 to July 2023. They found medetomidine in the bloodstreams of five of the patients along with other drugs, like fentanyl and xylazine. The presence of xylazine was unexpected because the substance is associated with injection-site wounds. The researchers had hypothesized that people would substitute medetomidine for xylazine to avoid adverse effects, Schwarz said. While no medetomidine-linked deaths were reported during the study, the researchers, who’ve been investigating the drug since 2022, are concerned about the overdoses. Earlier this year, medetomidine was linked to overdoses in Pittsburgh and Chicago. While the number of overdoses is small, researchers have only looked for the drug in a few areas in the country, Schwarz said. "So my suspicion is it’s out there even more, we just haven’t seen it," he added. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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