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  • Nobel Prize awarded for discovery of quantum dots that changed everything from TV displays to cancer imaging | CNN

    Nobel Prize awarded for discovery of quantum dots that changed everything from TV displays to cancer imaging | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The 2023 Nobel Prize in chemistry has been awarded to a trio of scientists who worked to discover and develop quantum dots, used in LED lights and TV screens, as well as by surgeons when removing cancer tissue.

    The prize was won by Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus and Alexei Ekimov, the Nobel committee for chemistry announced in Stockholm on Wednesday.

    “For a long time, nobody thought you could ever actually make such small particles. But this year’s laureates succeeded,” said Johan Aqvist, chair of the committee.

    The scientists were lauded as “pioneers in the exploration of the nanoworld” – in which matter starts to be measured in millionths of a millimeter. At this level, strange phenomena start to occur called “quantum effects.”

    Quantum dots consist of just a few thousand atoms. In terms of size, one quantum dot is to a soccer ball as a soccer ball is to the Earth.

    When light is passed through quantum dots they emit a specific color. This can be finely tuned and is determined by the size of the dots. The bigger dots glow red, while the smallest glow green or blue.

    The slightest of changes in the size of the particle can change its hue right across the spectrum of the color wheel.

    “We can tune these dots to fluoresce at any color that a given application requires,” Michael Edelman, CEO of UK-based quantum manufacturer Nanoco, told CNN.

    The laureates’ work has allowed scientists to capitalize on some of the properties of the nanoworld, and quantum dots are now found in living rooms and operating theaters across the world.

    They are now widely used in TVs and have several advantages over traditional LCD panels, creating more vibrant and accurate colors, as well as requiring less energy to operate.

    The dots are also widely used in medical diagnostics. Doctors use them to illuminate molecules that can bind themselves to cancer tumors, allowing the surgeon to distinguish the healthy tissue from the diseased.

    The Nobel committee explained how the scientists’ work had helped develop quantum dots.

    In the 1980s, Ekimov created size-dependent quantum effects in colored glass. “The color came from nanoparticles of copper chloride and Ekimov demonstrated that the particle size affected the color of the glass via quantum effects,” the committee said.

    A few years later, Brus became the first scientist to prove size-dependent quantum effects in particles floating freely in a liquid.

    In 1993, Bawendi then changed the chemical production of quantum dots, resulting in what the committee called “almost perfect particles.” This development allowed the dots to be used in applications.

    Bawendi, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Brus, professor emeritus at Columbia University, are American. Ekimov is Russian and works for Nanocrystals Technology Inc.

    The deliberations of the Nobel committee are usually shrouded in total secrecy. No shortlists for the Nobel prizes are revealed and the winners are called shortly before the official announcement.

    But the chemistry committee inadvertently published the name of the winning trio before the official announcement on Wednesday.

    Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet published a copy of an email it said was from the academy, Reuters reported. Aqvist told Reuters ahead of the announcement that the email had been a “mistake” and stressed that a final decision had not been made. But hours later, the leaked names were confirmed as laureates.

    “Let me say that this is of course, very unfortunate. We deeply regret what happened for sure,” Hans Ellegren, secretary general of Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, said at the announcement ceremony.

    “There was a press release sent out for still unknown reasons. We have been very active this morning to trying to find out what actually happened but at this place, we don’t know that. we deeply regret that this happened. The important thing is that it did not affect the awarding of the prize.”

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  • Medical imaging struggles to read dark skin. Researchers say they’ve found a way to make it easier | CNN Business

    Medical imaging struggles to read dark skin. Researchers say they’ve found a way to make it easier | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Traditional medical imaging – used to diagnose, monitor or treat certain medical conditions – has long struggled to get clear pictures of patients with dark skin, according to experts.

    Researchers say they have found a way to improve medical imaging, a process through which physicians can observe the inside of the body, regardless of skin tone.

    The new findings were published in the October edition of the journal Photoacoustics. The team tested the forearms of 18 volunteers, with skin tones ranging from light to dark. They found that a distortion of the photoacoustic signal that makes the imaging more difficult to read, called clutter, increased with darkness of skin.

    “When you have darker skin, you have more melanin. And melanin is actually one of the optical absorbers that we inherently have within our body,” Muyinatu Bell, an author of the study and director and founder of the Photoacoustic and Ultrasonics Systems Engineering (PULSE) Lab at JHU, told CNN. In other words, the amount of melanin content in the skin could be associated with more clutter.

    “The skin essentially acts as a transmitter of sound, but it’s not the same type of focused sound that we get and we want with ultrasound, it’s everywhere diffused and creates a lot of confusion,” Bell said. “And so, this scattering of the sound that’s caused by the melanin absorption is worse and worse with the higher melanin concentration.”

    The study – a collaboration with researchers in Brazil who had previously used one of Bell’s algorithms – found that signal-to-noise ratio, a scientific measure that compares signal with background noise, improved for all skin tones when the researchers used a technique called “short-lag spatial coherence beamforming” while performing medical imaging. That technique, originally used for ultrasounds, can be applied to photoacoustic imaging.

    The technique involves a combination of light and ultrasound technology, forming a new medical imaging modality, Theo Pavan, an author of the study and associate professor with the department of physics at University of São Paulo in Brazil, told CNN.

    “We really verified that it was much less sensitive to the skin color in terms of the quality of the image that you can get compared to the conventional methods that … is more commonly used by the community,” Pavan said.

    The study is “the first to objectively assess skin tone and to both qualitatively and quantitatively demonstrate that skin” photoacoustic signal “and clutter artifacts increase with epidermal melanin content,” the researchers wrote.

    The applications of photoacoustic technology vary, but with the researchers’ new developments, it may help diagnose health issues more accurately and equitably.

    “Right now, it’s increasing the application of the breast imaging,” and the next step would be to “increase the image quality overall,” said Guilherme Fernandes, an author of the study and a Ph.D. candidate in physics applied to medicine and biology at USP.

    The researchers’ work could also mean advancements for equity in health care at large.

    “In our scientific technology, there is a bias in terms of developing these products, for things that work well in lighter-skinned people,” said Dr. Camara Jones, a family physician, epidemiologist and former president of the American Public Health Association, who was not involved in the new study.

    “The biggest problem is that we use a thing we call race, as a risk factor — as a health risk factor. And so race is the social and interpretation of how people look in a race-conscious society. Race is not biology,” Jones explained. “We’ve mapped the human genome. We know there’s no basis in the human genome for racial sub-speciation.”

    This study isn’t the first to find skin color biases in medical technology. Medical equipment that leverages infrared sensing has also been found to not work as well on darker skin, since skin tone can interfere with the reflection of light.

    Many devices that were in frequent use during the Covid-19 pandemic, such as pulse oximeters and forehead thermometers, involve emitting and capturing light to make a measurement. But if that device isn’t calibrated for darker skin, the pigmentation could affect how the light is absorbed and how the infrared technology works.

    Bell said her research can hopefully pave a way to eliminating discrimination in health care and inspire others to develop technology that helps everyone, regardless of their skin tone.

    “I believe that with the ability to show that we can devise and develop technology — that doesn’t just work for one small subset of the population but works for a wider range of the population. This is very inspiring for not only my group, but for groups around the world to start thinking in this direction when designing technology. Does it serve the wider population?” Bell said.

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  • Breast density changes over time could be linked to breast cancer risk, study finds | CNN

    Breast density changes over time could be linked to breast cancer risk, study finds | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Breast density is known to naturally decrease as a woman ages, and now a study suggests that the more time it takes for breast density to decline, the more likely it is that the woman could develop breast cancer.

    Researchers have long known that women with dense breasts have a higher risk of breast cancer. But according to the study, published last week in the journal JAMA Oncology, the rate of breast density changes over time also appears to be associated with the risk of cancer being diagnosed in that breast.

    “We know that invasive breast cancer is rarely diagnosed simultaneously in both breasts, thus it is not a surprise that we have observed a much slower decline in the breast that eventually developed breast cancer compared to the natural decline in density with age,” Shu Jiang, an associate professor of surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and first author of the new study, wrote in an email.

    Breast density refers to the amount of fibrous and glandular tissue in a person’s breasts compared with the amount of fatty tissue in the breasts – and breast density can be seen on a mammogram.

    “Because women have their mammograms taken annually or biennially, the change of breast density over time is naturally available,” Jiang said in the email. “We should make full use of this dynamic information to better inform risk stratification and guide more individualized screening and prevention approaches.”

    The researchers, from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, analyzed health data over the course of 10 years among 947 women in the St. Louis region who completed routine mammograms. A mammogram is an X-ray picture of the breast that doctors use to look for early signs of breast cancer.

    The women in the study were recruited from November 2008 to April 2012, and they had gotten mammograms through October 2020. The average age of the participants was around 57.

    Among the women, there were 289 cases of breast cancer diagnosed, and the researchers found that breast density was higher at the start of the study for the women who later developed breast cancer compared with those who remained cancer-free.

    The researchers also found that there was a significant decrease in breast density among all the women over the course of 10 years, regardless of whether they later developed breast cancer, but the rate of density decreasing over time was significantly slower among breasts in which cancer was later diagnosed.

    “This study found that evaluating longitudinal changes in breast density from digital mammograms may offer an additional tool for assessing risk of breast cancer and subsequent risk reduction strategies,” the researchers wrote.

    Not only is breast density a known risk factor for breast cancer, dense breast tissue can make mammograms more difficult to read.

    “There are two issues here. First, breast density can make it more difficult to fully ‘see through’ the breast on a mammogram, like looking through a frosted glass. Thus, it can be harder to detect a breast cancer,” Dr. Hal Burstein, clinical investigator in the Breast Oncology Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who was not involved in the new study, said in an email. “Secondly, breast density is often thought to reflect the estrogen exposure or estrogen levels in women, and the greater the estrogen exposure, the greater the risk of developing breast cancer.”

    In March, the US Food and Drug Administration published updates to its mammography regulations, requiring mammography facilities to notify patients about the density of their breasts.

    “Breast density can have a masking effect on mammography, where it can be more difficult to find a breast cancer within an area of dense breast tissue,” Jiang wrote in her email.

    “Even when you take away the issue of finding it, breast density is an independent risk factor for developing breast cancer. Although there is lots of data that tell us dense breast tissue is a risk factor, the reason for this is not clear,” she said. “It may be that development of dense tissue and cancer are related to the same biological processes or hormonal influences.”

    The findings of the new study demonstrate that breast density serves as a risk factor for breast cancer – but women should be aware of their other risk factors too, said Dr. Maxine Jochelson, chief of the breast imaging service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, who was not involved in the study.

    “It makes sense to some extent that the longer your breast stays dense, theoretically, the more likely it is to develop cancer. And so basically, it expands on the data that dense breasts are a risk,” Jochelson said, adding that women with dense breasts should ask for supplemental imaging when they get mammograms.

    But other factors that can raise the risk of breast cancer include having a family history of cancer, drinking too much alcohol, having a high-risk lesion biopsied from the breast or having a certain genetic mutation.

    For instance, women should know that “density may not affect their risk so much if they have the breast cancer BRCA 1 or 2 mutation because their risk is so high that it may not make it much higher,” Jochelson said.

    Some ways to reduce the risk of breast cancer include keeping a healthy weight, being physically active, drinking alcohol in moderation or not at all and, for some people, taking medications such as tamoxifen and breastfeeding your children, if possible.

    “Breast density is a modest risk factor. The ‘average’ woman in the US has a 1 in 8 lifetime chance of developing breast cancer. Women with dense breasts have a slightly greater risk, about 1 in 6, or 1 in 7. So the lifetime risk goes up from 12% to 15%. That still means that most women with dense breasts will not develop breast cancer,” Burstein said in his email.

    “Sometimes radiologists will recommend additional breast imaging to women with dense breast tissue on mammograms,” he added.

    The US Preventive Services Task Force – a group of independent medical experts whose recommendations help guide doctors’ decisions – recommends biennial screening for women starting at age 50. The task force says that a decision to start screening earlier “should be an individual one.” Many medical groups, including the American Cancer Society and Mayo Clinic, emphasize that women have the option to start screening with a mammogram every year starting at age 40.

    “It’s also very clear that breast density tends to be highest in younger women, premenopausal women, and for almost all women, it tends to go down with age. However, the risk of breast cancer goes up with age. So these two things are a little bit at odds with each other,” said Dr. Freya Schnabel, director of breast surgery at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center and professor of surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York, who was not involved in the new study.

    “So if you’re a 40-year-old woman and your breasts are dense, you could think about that as just being really kind of age-appropriate,” she said. “The take-home message that’s very, very practical and pragmatic right now is that if you have dense breasts, whatever your age is, even if you’re postmenopausal – maybe even specifically, if you are postmenopausal – and your breasts are not getting less dense the way the average woman’s does, that it really is a reason to seek out adjunctive imaging in addition to just mammography, to use additional diagnostic tools, like ultrasound or maybe even MRI, if there are other risk factors.”

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  • 5 things to know for April 21: Starship, Biden, Gun violence, North Dakota, Theranos | CNN

    5 things to know for April 21: Starship, Biden, Gun violence, North Dakota, Theranos | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT have shown they can be remarkably adept at everything from generating student essays to writing wedding vows and even composing sermons for pastors and rabbis. Now, one city is turning to the AI chatbot for something else: helping to run the government.

    Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.

    (You can get “CNN’s 5 Things” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)

    SpaceX’s Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, exploded midair shortly after it launched on Thursday from Texas. No injuries or property damages were reported following the explosion of the unmanned rocket, the FAA said. CEO Elon Musk congratulated the company and said the team “learned a lot” from the “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” Preparations are now underway for the company’s next test launch, which Musk said will happen in a few months. SpaceX is known to embrace fiery mishaps during the rocket development process. The company maintains that such accidents are the quickest and most efficient way of gathering data, an approach that sets the company apart from its close partner NASA, which prefers slow, methodical testing over dramatic flare-ups.

    Plans are underway for President Joe Biden to formally announce his bid for a second term as soon as next week, according to several sources familiar with the matter. A campaign-style video is set to be released to definitively answer the question of whether he will run again and ignite an aggressive fundraising effort to help Democrats hold the White House. Advisers inside and outside the White House caution that timing could still change, pending unforeseen events, but a decision has been reached that it is “no longer helpful or necessary to not just say the obvious: He’s running,” a senior Democratic official told CNN. Biden’s campaign headquarters will be based in Wilmington, Delaware, aides said, as a nod to the pride in his hometown and the place where he spends most of his weekends.

    Biden expected to announce reelection bid next week

    he shooter who killed five co-workers at a Louisville, Kentucky, bank this month left notes that revealed part of his goal was to show how easy it was in America for someone dealing with a serious mental illness to buy an assault-style weapon. The gunman purchased the AR-15-style rifle seven days before the April 10 shooting after quickly passing a records check. Separately, communities across the US are grieving several recent shootings in which young people were shot after making a common blunder. Among the cases, a 6-year-old girl was shot after an angry neighbor opened fire over a basketball rolling into his yard. Other young victims include two teenage cheerleaders in Texas who mistakenly approached someone else’s vehicle in a grocery store parking lot, a 16-year-old boy who rang the wrong doorbell in Kansas City and a 20-year-old woman who turned into the wrong New York driveway.

    Louisville Body Cam

    Video shows officers walking head-on into gunfire to stop Louisville shooter

    North Dakota’s Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed a bill this week banning gender-affirming care for most minors. Burgum, in a statement to CNN, said the bill “is aimed at protecting children from the life-altering ramifications of gender reassignment surgeries.” It also bars providers from prescribing minors puberty-blocking medication and hormone therapies for the purpose of gender transition. Health care professionals who violate the new legislation could face a class B felony charge, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison or a fine of $20,000, according to North Dakota law. This comes as a growing number of states are restricting access to health care services for transgender youth. Indiana and Idaho enacted their own bans earlier this month, and several other states have signed into law restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors since the start of the year.

    The former chief operating officer of the failed startup Theranos, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, has reported to prison, according to his attorney. Once valued at $9 billion, Theranos attracted top investors and retail partners with claims that it had developed technology to test for a wide range of conditions using just a few drops of blood. The company began to unravel after a Wall Street Journal investigation in 2015 revealed Theranos had only ever performed roughly a dozen of the hundreds of tests it offered using its proprietary technology, and with questionable accuracy. Balwani’s arrival into custody this week marks an end to a yearslong saga which saw him become one of the rare tech executives convicted for fraud. The founder of the company, Elizabeth Holmes, was also convicted on multiple counts of defrauding investors and has been ordered to turn herself in next week.

    Ramadan ends today with the arrival of Eid al-Fitr

    For many Muslims, today brings the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. The conclusion of the 30-day fast is celebrated with delicious feasts around the world.

    What it’s like to be a theme park designer

    With this cool job, some of the most out-of-the-box ideas are greatly appreciated. Oh, and did we mention plenty of free perks are involved?

    Man loses it on plane over crying baby

    A passenger threw a total fit over a crying baby on his flight. Watch the meltdown here.

    Gwyneth Paltrow leaves door open for further involvement in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

    Never say never! The actress who starred in “Iron Man” and “Avengers” said she would consider a return if asked. 

    Ikea announces $2 billion expansion in the US

    The retailer is making its biggest-ever investment in a single country with several new stores set to open in the US over the next three years.

    Which small intruder crawled through a fence at the White House this week, prompting a swift response from the US Secret Service?

    A. Snake

    B. Dog

    C. Cat

    D. Toddler

    Take CNN’s weekly news quiz to see if you’re correct!

    $500 million

    That’s how much President Biden on Thursday pledged to invest in curbing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. The sum would make the US one of the world’s largest donors to the Amazon Fund, an international conservation program that aims to preserve the environment in the South American region.

    “Our investigators have their eyes open to all avenues.”

    — Stephen Duivesteyn, a police spokesman in Canada, announcing that a cargo container carrying more than $15 million in gold and other valuables disappeared from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport this week. Police are still trying to find out who is behind the high-value heist.

    Check your local forecast here>>>

    The fastest window cleaner in the world

    This man holds several Guinness World Records for his turbo squeegee techniques. Watch this quick video to see him in action. (Click here to view)

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  • Watch: Video shows moment Indian politician was shot on live TV | CNN

    Watch: Video shows moment Indian politician was shot on live TV | CNN

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    Atiq Ahmed, a former lawmaker in India’s parliament, convicted of kidnapping, was shot dead along with his brother while police were escorting them for a medical check-up in a slaying caught on live television on Saturday. CNN’s Vedika Sud reports.

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  • Federal judge says insurers no longer have to provide some preventive care services, including cancer and heart screenings, at no cost | CNN Politics

    Federal judge says insurers no longer have to provide some preventive care services, including cancer and heart screenings, at no cost | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    A federal judge in Texas said Thursday that some Affordable Care Act mandates cannot be enforced nationwide, including those that require insurers to cover a wide array of preventive care services at no cost to the patient, including some cancer, heart and STD screenings, and tobacco programs.

    In the new ruling, US District Judge Reed O’Connor struck down the recommendations that have been issued by the US Preventive Services Task Force, which is tasked with determining some of the preventive care treatments that Obamacare requires to be covered.

    The decision applies to task force recommendations issued on or after March 23, 2010 – the day the Affordable Care Act was signed into law. While the group had recommended various preventive services prior to that date, nearly all have since been updated or expanded.

    O’Connor’s ruling comes after the judge had already said that the task force’s recommendations violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause. The judge also deemed unlawful the ACA requirement that insurers and employers offer plans that cover HIV-prevention measures such as PrEP for free.

    Other preventive care mandates under the ACA remain in effect.

    The full extent of the ruling’s impact and when its effects could be felt are unclear.

    It is likely the case will be appealed, and the Justice Department has the option to ask that O’Connor’s ruling be put on pause while the appeal is litigated.

    The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment, nor did the US Department of Health and Human Services.

    White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre called the case “yet another attack on the Affordable Care Act” and said that DOJ and HHS were reviewing Thursday’s ruling.

    The decision, in a case brought by employers and individuals in Texas, represents the latest legal affront to the landmark 2010 health care law. It is unclear what immediate practical effect O’Connor’s new ruling will have for those with job-based and Affordable Care Act policies because insurance companies will likely continue no-cost coverage for the remainder of the contracts even though the Obamacare requirements in question have been blocked. Contracts often last one calendar year.

    O’Connor’s Thursday ruling is expected to kick off a new phase of the legal battle over Obamacare’s preventive care measures. The judge rejected other claims that the ACA’s foes brought against the law – including challenges to the entities that determine no-cost coverage mandates for vaccines, an assortment of women’s health preventive care treatments, and services for infants and children. It’s possible that the plaintiffs appeal those aspects of O’Connor’s handling of the case, which could put at risk coverage requirements for additional preventive services at no cost.

    A lawyer for the challengers did not respond to CNN’s inquiry about Thursday’s decision.

    O’Connor is a George W. Bush-appointee who sits in the Northern District of Texas and who has issued anti-Obamacare rulings in major challenges to the law in the past. An appeal of the current case would head to the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, perhaps the most conservative federal appeals court in the country.

    While the case does not pose the existential threat to the Affordable Care Act that previous legal challenges did, legal experts say that O’Connor’s ruling nonetheless puts in jeopardy the access some Americans will have to a whole host of preventive treatments.

    “We lose a huge chunk of preventive services because health plans can now impose costs,” said Andrew Twinamatsiko, associate director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University. “People who are sensitive to cost will go without, mostly poor people and marginalized communities.”

    Thursday’s ruling, if left standing, could have significant consequences for Americans nationwide by limiting access to key preventive services aimed at early detection of diseases, including lung and colorectal cancer, depression and hypertension.

    Some of the US Preventive Services Task Force’s recommendations – including lung and skin cancer screenings, the use of statins to prevent cardiovascular disease and the offer of PrEP for those at high risk of HIV – were issued after the ACA’s enactment.

    Certain older recommendations have been updated with new provisions, such as screening adults ages 45 to 49 for colorectal cancer.

    “It would effectively lock in place coverage of evidence-based prevention with no cost sharing from 13 years ago,” said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

    Some of the cost-sharing for these preventive services can be substantial. PrEP, for instance, can cost up to $20,000 a year, plus lab and provider charges, according to Kaiser.

    In an earlier ruling, the judge upheld certain free preventive services for children, such as autism and vision screenings and well-baby visits, and for women, such as mammograms, well-woman visits and breastfeeding support programs.

    O’Connor also upheld the mandate that provides immunizations at no charge for the flu, hepatitis, measles, shingles and chickenpox.

    These services are recommended by the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

    Insurers will have to continue to cover preventive and wellness services since they are one of the Affordable Care Act’s required essential health benefits. But under O’Connor’s ruling, they could require patients to pick up part of the tab.

    Insurers’ trade associations stressed there would be no immediate disruption to coverage.

    “It is vitally important for patients to know that their care and coverage will not change because of today’s court decision,” said David Merritt, senior vice president of policy and advocacy for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. “Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies strongly encourage their members to continue to access these services to promote their continued well-being. We will continue to monitor further developments in the courts.”

    More than 150 million people with private insurance can receive preventive services without cost-sharing under the Affordable Care Act, according to a 2022 report published by HHS.

    Overall, about 60% of the 173 million people enrolled in private health coverage used at least one of the ACA’s no-cost preventive services in 2018 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a recent Kaiser analysis. These include some services that will continue to be available at no charge under the judge’s ruling.

    The most commonly received preventive care includes vaccinations, not including Covid-19 vaccines, well-woman and well-child visits, and screenings for heart disease, cervical cancer, diabetes and breast cancer, according to Kaiser. The most commonly used preventive services will continue to be covered at no cost.

    Studies have shown the Obamacare mandate prompted an uptake in preventive services and narrowed care disparities in communities of color.

    “There’s plenty of evidence that people responded to this incentive and started using preventive care more often,” said Paul Shafer, assistant professor of health policy at Boston University.

    This story has been updated with additional details.

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  • Government to step up efforts to monitor health of East Palestine residents, first responders | CNN

    Government to step up efforts to monitor health of East Palestine residents, first responders | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Almost two months after a train carrying hazardous materials derailed in the town of East Palestine, Ohio, the state Department of Health is preparing to offer blood and urine testing and physical exams to first responders who rushed to fight the blaze.

    The testing is set to start within the next two weeks and will be the first step in a long-term effort to monitor the health of responders to the accident, according to an email obtained by CNN.

    This move closely follows an announcement that a health assessment clinic for East Palestine residents that has been operating out of a local church will become permanent and expand its services.

    Roughly 300 firefighters from 50 departments – many of whom were volunteers – responded to the derailment and fire, which happened the night of February 3 and continued to burn for several days.

    Many of the firefighters had their gear ruined by the heat and chemicals. Some wore breathing apparatus to protect themselves from the fumes and smoke, but others didn’t have or didn’t know that they needed self-contained breathing apparatus to protect their lungs and airways, according to firefighters who were at the scene and spoke with CNN.

    The email about health testing, which was sent to area fire chiefs Sunday, says the long-term monitoring plans for the first responders are still being developed, but a first step will be the physicals, which will include “blood work, urinalysis, and an exam.” It does not describe what the tests will look for or their purpose.

    The Ohio Department of Public Health said in a statement Monday that it “has been working with the East Palestine fire chief to make sure responders’ unique needs are addressed.

    “In early March, ODH began soliciting first responders to voluntarily fill out a specialized After Chemical Exposure (ACE) survey, and more than 200 have filled those out so far. This collects information on type of exposure and PPE worn as well as any health impacts responders may be experiencing,” the statement says. “The next step in our comprehensive plan of ongoing monitoring of first responders involves creating a clinical service within the next several weeks. This service is in the planning stages and many details still have not been determined, but it would include voluntary laboratory testing.”

    In addition to the testing through the health department, firefighters who responded to the derailment will be followed by the Firefighter Cancer Cohort Study, Candice McDonald, deputy chief executive of the National Volunteer Fire Council, said Monday.

    The study, which is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, aims to follow 10,000 firefighters for 30 years to learn more about how their exposures contribute to cancer risks.

    Cancer caused by chemicals in smoke is the leading cause of death for firefighters, according to the International Association of Fire Fighters.

    First responders to the Ohio derailment were among the most heavily exposed to a cocktail of chemicals that spilled into the ground and nearby creeks.

    David Comstock, chief of the Western Reserve Joint Fire District, says there are still a lot of unknowns about the nature of the chemical hazards that the firefighters were exposed to that night.

    “One of the things that I’ve raised is, what’s in tank car A? And what’s in tank car B? But what happens when they mix and burn? Now, what do I have?” he said.

    Comstock says that three firefighters from his station responded to the derailment and were 50 to 100 feet from a burning railcar. He asked them what was in the derailed cars, “and my crews couldn’t answer me,” he said.

    It was hard to get information about the chemicals on the scene, he said.

    He arranged physical exams for the firefighters at his station within a week, but he wishes they had happened even faster. He spoke to some doctors who advised blood testing within 48 hours.

    “Your blood, your body, processes many of the chemicals out of it within that time period, that they don’t become detectable at that point,” he said.

    It’s unclear how much information testing will yield now, Comstock said, but he hopes the exams and tests from the Department of Health will offer a baseline so the first responders will know if their health changes over time.

    East Palestine residents will also soon get expanded access to health services. The temporary health assessment clinic that opened in downtown in the wake of the train derailment will remain open permanently, Gov. Mike DeWine testified Wednesday before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

    “We started back clinic shortly after this tragedy occurred. This morning … I met with medical leaders from the East Liverpool City Hospital. And we are announcing today that we’ll be making this clinic into a permanent clinic for the community,” DeWine said last week.

    “This is going to be a full-service clinic that will provide comprehensive care and treatment. Anybody can walk in anyone can be treated. And this is a long-term commitment to the health of the people of East Palestine,” said DeWine, who offered his testimony remotely, from the library of East Palestine High School.

    DeWine gave few details on the services that might be available to the clinic or who would ultimately pay for them.

    Currently, residents can walk into the clinic to get information about their risk, answer questions as part of an ongoing health study, and meet with a physician to get a basic exam and advice on any necessary follow-up care.

    DeWine suggested that these offerings might be expanded under a partnership with East Liverpool City Hospital. His comments were also an acknowledgment of ongoing health needs in the community.

    East Palestine residents are “worried about their future they’re worried about where things are going to be in five or 10 or 15 years. It’s important that they be able to continue to get assessed,” he said.

    DeWine said it would be particularly important for the health of the first responders to continue to have regular checkups.

    “They all need to be assessed. That needs to be established – a baseline – and they need to be assured that in five years or 10 years, there’s still a place where they can go.”

    DeWine said Norfolk Southern would be expected to pay for those things.

    “We look to the railroad to establish that fund,” he said.

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  • Former Theranos COO sentenced to nearly 13 years | CNN Business

    Former Theranos COO sentenced to nearly 13 years | CNN Business

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    CNN Business
     — 

    Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, the former chief operating officer of failed blood testing startup Theranos, was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 13 years in prison for fraud. It marks an end to the stunning downfall of a high-flying Silicon Valley company that resulted in the rare convictions of two tech executives.

    “There is an unfortunate saying in Silicon Valley: ‘Fake it ‘til you make it.’ Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani stretched this idea to a place much farther than the law allows and in so doing put vast amounts of investor dollars at risk,” said Stephanie Hinds, US Attorney for the Northern District of California, in a statement. “Significantly, today the court also made clear that Sunny Balwani’s decision to deceive doctors and patients also put the health of patients at risk. Ms. Holmes and Mr. Balwani now will be justly punished for their illegal conduct.”

    Hinds added, “Let this story be a cautionary tale for entrepreneurs in this district: Those who use lies to cover up the shortfalls of their promised accomplishments risk substantial jail time.”

    The sentencing comes weeks after Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos and Balwani’s ex-girlfriend, was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison.

    Theranos raised $945 million from an A-list cohort of investors with its promise to test for a wide range of conditions using just a few drops of blood. At its peak, the company was valued at $9 billion.

    The company began to unravel after a Wall Street Journal investigation in 2015 reported that Theranos had only ever performed roughly a dozen of the hundreds of tests it offered using its proprietary technology, and with questionable accuracy. It also came to light that Theranos was relying on third-party manufactured devices from traditional blood testing companies rather than its own technology. Theranos ultimately dissolved in September 2018.

    Holmes and Balwani were first indicted together four years ago on the same 12 criminal charges pertaining to defrauding investors and patients about Theranos’ capabilities and business dealings in order to get money. Their trials were severed after Holmes indicated she intended to accuse Balwani of sexually, emotionally and psychologically abusing her throughout their decade-long relationship, which coincided with her time running the company. (Balwani’s attorneys have denied her claims.)

    In July, Balwani was found guilty on all 12 charges he faced, which included ten counts of federal wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Holmes was found guilty in January on four charges relating to defrauding investors, and found not guilty on three additional charges concerning defrauding patients and one charge of conspiracy to defraud patients.

    Like Holmes, Balwani faced up to 20 years in prison as well as a fine of $250,000 plus restitution for each count.

    In a recent court filing, prosecutors noted that Balwani was convicted not only of defrauding investors but also defrauding patients. They recommended a 15-year prison sentence for him, as well as an order for Balwani to pay $804 million in restitution. In a separate filing, attorneys for Balwani requested a sentence of probation, noting he had no criminal history.

    Before joining Theranos, Balwani had a career as a software executive. Balwani, nearly 20 years older than Holmes, first met her in 2002 before she dropped out of Stanford. He served as an informal adviser to Holmes in Theranos’ earliest days and the two became romantically involved. Balwani guaranteed a “multimillion-dollar loan” to the startup in 2009, court filings show, and took on a formal role as president and chief operating officer. Holmes and Balwani largely kept their romantic relationship hidden while working together.

    During her trial, Holmes claimed Balwani tried to control nearly every aspect of her life — including disciplining her eating, her voice and image, and isolating her from others. She testified that while he didn’t control her interactions with investors, business partners and others, “he impacted everything about who I was, and I don’t fully understand that.”

    Holmes is expected to appeal her conviction but was ordered to turn herself into custody on April 27, 2023.

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  • Elizabeth Holmes must report to prison this month while waiting out her appeal, judge rules | CNN Business

    Elizabeth Holmes must report to prison this month while waiting out her appeal, judge rules | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    A judge on Monday denied Elizabeth Holmes’ request to remain free while she appeals her conviction, setting the stage for the disgraced Theranos founder to report to prison later this month.

    In his order, Judge Edward Davila of the Northern District of California said Holmes does not pose a danger to the community or a flight risk, but he cast doubt on her appeal. Even if Homes won her appeal, he said, it is unlikely to result in a reversal, or an order for a new trial, for all of the counts on which she was found guilty.

    Davila previously ordered Holmes to turn herself into custody on April 27, 2023.

    Holmes was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison last November, after she was convicted months earlier on multiple charges of defrauding investors while running the failed blood testing startup Theranos. Attorneys for Holmes did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment on the ruling.

    Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, Holmes’ ex-boyfriend and the former chief operating officer at Theranos, was also found guilty on multiple counts of fraud in a separate trial. He was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison last December. Balwani’s request to remain out of prison during his appeal was also denied, and he has been ordered by Davila to surrender to prison on April 20.

    Once valued at $9 billion, Theranos attracted top investors and retail partners with claims that it had developed technology to test for a wide range of conditions using just a few drops of blood. The company began to unravel after a Wall Street Journal investigation in 2015 reported that Theranos had only ever performed roughly a dozen of the hundreds of tests it offered using its proprietary technology, and with questionable accuracy.

    Holmes’ trial was initially delayed multiple times, due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and then because of her pregnancy. Following her sentencing in November, Holmes sought to delay the start of her prison term after giving birth to her second child.

    While Davila denied Holmes represented a flight risk, he also addressed the fact that she had previously booked a one-way ticket to Mexico in January 2022.

    “Booking international travel plans for a criminal defendant in anticipation of a complete defense victory is a bold move, and the failure to promptly cancel those plans after a guilty verdict is a perilously careless oversight,” Davila wrote in the court filing.

    Holmes’ attorneys had previously claimed that Holmes had hoped the verdict would be different when booking the travel plans and that she wanted to make this trip to attend the wedding of friends in Mexico. Davila wrote in court documents that the court accepts Holmes’ “representation that the oneway flight ticket—while ill-advised—was not an attempt to flee the country.”

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  • Elizabeth Holmes delays start of prison sentence with last-minute appeal | CNN Business

    Elizabeth Holmes delays start of prison sentence with last-minute appeal | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Elizabeth Holmes won’t be starting her 11-year prison sentence just yet.

    The disgraced Theranos founder was previously expected to report to prison on Thursday, but she will remain free a little longer while the court considers a last-minute appeal, according to a filing Tuesday night.

    Holmes was sentenced last November after she was convicted months earlier on multiple charges of defrauding investors while running the now-defunct blood testing startup. Earlier this month, her request to remain free while she appeals her conviction was denied by a judge, setting her up to report to prison on April 27.

    On Tuesday, however, Holmes’ legal team filed an appeal of the judge’s decision. As a result, Holmes can remain free on bail while the latest appeal is considered by the court, as per the court’s rules.

    Holmes dropped out of Stanford at the age of 19 to focus full-time on Theranos, the health tech startup which claimed to have invented technology that could accurately test for a range of conditions using just a few drops of blood. Theranos raised $945 million from an impressive list of investors and was valued at some $9 billion at its peak – making Holmes a paper billionaire.

    Her company began to unravel after a Wall Street Journal investigation in 2015 reported that Theranos had only ever performed roughly a dozen of the hundreds of tests it offered using its proprietary technology, and with questionable accuracy. It also came to light that Theranos was relying on third-party manufactured devices from traditional blood testing companies rather than its own technology.

    Holmes’ ex-boyfriend and former COO Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani was indicted alongside Holmes and convicted of fraud in a separate trial. Like Holmes, Balwani’s legal team delayed the start of his prison sentence by roughly a month with an appeal.

    Balwani reported to prison last week to serve out his nearly 13-year sentence.

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  • Elizabeth Holmes reports to prison | CNN Business

    Elizabeth Holmes reports to prison | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Elizabeth Holmes reported to prison on Tuesday, capping off a stunning downfall for the disgraced founder of failed blood testing startup Theranos.

    Holmes was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison last November, after she was convicted months earlier on multiple charges of defrauding investors while running the now-defunct startup.

    Her request to remain free on bail while she fights to overturn her conviction was denied by an appellate court earlier this month. Judge Edward Davila, who presided over her trial, ordered Holmes to turn herself in to the Bureau of Prisons by May 30 to begin serving her sentence.

    Holmes arrived Tuesday at Federal Prison Camp Bryan in southern Texas, a minimum security federal prison camp that is approximately 100 miles from Houston, where she grew up before moving to California to attend Stanford.

    “We can confirm Elizabeth Holmes has arrived at the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan in Bryan, Texas, and is in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons,” a spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement provided to CNN.

    Her ex-boyfriend and former Theranos COO Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani was also convicted of fraud, and reported to prison in California last month to begin serving out his sentence.

    Holmes was once an icon in the tech world, serving as a posterchild for the limitless ambitions and potential of Silicon Valley. Now, she and Balwani are the rare tech executives tried for, and convicted on, fraud charges.

    Holmes dropped out of Stanford at the age of 19 to focus full-time on Theranos, a startup that claimed to have invented technology that could accurately test for a range of conditions using just a few drops of blood. Theranos raised $945 million from an impressive list of investors and was valued at some $9 billion at its peak – making Holmes a paper billionaire. She graced magazine covers and engaged in public speaking events wearing a black turtleneck that invited comparisons to the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

    Her company began to unravel after a Wall Street Journal investigation in 2015 reported that Theranos had only ever performed roughly a dozen of the hundreds of tests it offered using its proprietary technology, and with questionable accuracy. It also came to light that Theranos was relying on third-party manufactured devices from traditional blood testing companies rather than its own technology.

    Theranos ultimately dissolved in September 2018.

    Dawn breaks at the Federal Prison Camp where Elizabeth Holmes, the former founder and CEO of Theranos, is expected to arrive to begin her 11 year sentence for fraud relating to the defunct company Tuesday, May 30, 2023, in Bryan, Texas.

    Holmes and Balwani were first indicted together nearly five years ago on the same 12 criminal charges. Their trials were severed after Holmes indicated she intended to accuse Balwani of sexually, emotionally and psychologically abusing her throughout their decade-long relationship, which coincided with her time running the company. (Balwani’s attorneys have denied her claims.)

    This month, Davila ordered Holmes and Balwani to pay restitution of roughly $452 million to victims of their crimes.

    Before her sentencing was announced in November, a tearful Holmes spoke to the court in San Jose, California.

    “I loved Theranos. It was my life’s work,” she said. “The people I tried to get involved with Theranos were the people I loved and respected the most. I am devastated by my failings.”

    She went on to apologize to the employees, investors and patients of Theranos.

    “I’m so, so sorry. I gave everything I had to build our company and to save our company,” she said. “I regret my failings with every cell in my body.”

    – CNN’s Brad Parks contributed to this report.

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  • What Elizabeth Holmes’ life in prison could look like | CNN Business

    What Elizabeth Holmes’ life in prison could look like | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Once a Silicon Valley icon and paper billionaire, Elizabeth Holmes will now have to wake every morning at 6 a.m., hold a job paying as little as $0.12 an hour, and share bathing facilities at a prison camp in southern Texas.

    Holmes reported to the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, on Tuesday to begin serving out her 11-year sentence after being convicted on multiple charges of defrauding investors while running the now-defunct startup Theranos. Her request to remain free on bail while she appeals her conviction was denied by an appellate court earlier this month.

    Located approximately 100 miles outside of Houston, where Holmes grew up before moving to California to attend Stanford, FPC Bryan is a minimum-security federal prison camp housing more than 600 women offenders.

    Bryan has other notable inmates. It is the same facility where Jennifer Shah, a cast member on Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” is serving out her own sentence for her involvement in a telemarketing fraud scheme.

    Holmes herself once graced the covers of magazines, appeared alongside prominent figures like Bill Clinton at conferences and attracted a who’s who of investors for Theranos, which promised to test for a wide range of health concerns using just a few drops of blood. But it all began to unravel after a damning Wall Street Journal investigation in 2015. Holmes is now the rare Silicon Valley founder to be tried for and convicted of fraud.

    Federal prison camps are minimum security institutions with dormitory housing, a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio, and limited or no perimeter fencing, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. These prisons are sometimes nicknamed “Camp Fed” because they’re less restrictive than other institutions.

    But according to Mark MacDougall, a longtime white-collar defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor, the prison won’t be a walk in the park for Holmes.

    “I think people who talk about ‘Camp Fed’ have never actually been inside a federal correctional institution,” MacDougall told CNN. “It’s not a place where people would want to spend time if they could be somewhere else.”

    FPC Bryan will likely be heavily populated with white-collar offenders, according MacDougall. Housing at FPC Bryan typically consists of dormitory-style arrangements featuring a four-bunk cubicle and communal bath facilities, he said.

    “There’s no privacy,” he said.

    Inmates at FPC Bryan are required to maintain a job assignment, according to the prison’s handbook, with hourly wages ranging from $0.12 to $1.15. Holmes will have to wear a uniform of khaki pants and a khaki shirt – a far cry from her black turtleneck days. She also can’t wear jewelry, except for a plain wedding band and a religious medallion without stones, according to the handbook, and the value of these items can’t exceed $100 each.

    MacDougall noted that there’s many volunteer opportunities at Bryan, and it’s very likely that someone with Holmes’ background might find herself teaching.

    “I expect she would be teaching in some fashion,” he said. “That’s a very common occupation for inmates who have some education.” (Holmes dropped out of Stanford at age 19 to pursue Theranos.)

    Holmes, who became a mother of two in the time between her indictment in 2018 and the start of her prison sentence, will also only be able to see her children and other family during visiting hours on weekends and federal holidays at FPC Bryan. Holmes and her family have most recently been living in California.

    As MacDougall put it, “Anybody that suggests that she’s going to be in a pleasant environment or have an easy time of it is kidding themselves.”

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  • Elizabeth Holmes objects to government requesting she pay $250 a month to victims after prison | CNN Business

    Elizabeth Holmes objects to government requesting she pay $250 a month to victims after prison | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced former Theranos CEO, has “limited financial means” and should not be forced to pay $250 a month to victims of her crimes after she is released from prison, her lawyers argued in a court filing on Monday.

    The move from Holmes’ attorneys comes after federal prosecutors said in a separate filing last week that “clerical errors” had resulted in no payment schedule being set for Holmes’ restitution after she is released from prison. Holmes and former Theranos COO Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani were previously ordered to pay $452 million in restitution to victims of their crimes.

    Holmes reported to prison late last month in Texas to serve out her more than 11-year sentence. She was convicted early last year on multiple charges of defrauding investors while running the failed blood-testing startup Theranos.

    Federal prosecutors asked that once Holmes is on supervised released, criminal monetary penalties should be paid monthly in the amount of $250, or at least 10% of her wages, whichever is greater.

    In the latest filing, Holmes’ attorneys argued “there is no basis in the record for the payment structure in the government’s request,” but did not object to her being asked to start paying $25 per quarter as part of her restitution while she is in prison.

    Holmes, once a paper billionaire, could hold a job at the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, with hourly wages ranging from $0.12 to $1.15, according to the prison’s handbook.

    Theranos once claimed to have invented technology that could test for a range of conditions using a few drops of blood. It was valued at some $9 billion at its peak and raised money from a long list of prominent investors. Then it all began to unravel after a damning Wall Street Journal report cast doubt on the company’s claims.

    As part of the original restitution order, some $125 million is owed to media mogul Rupert Murdoch, as well as millions in payments to other Theranos investors.

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  • Elizabeth Holmes could be released from prison two years earlier than expected | CNN Business

    Elizabeth Holmes could be released from prison two years earlier than expected | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Disgraced former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes could be out of prison nearly two years earlier than expected, according to the projected release date posted by the Bureau of Prisons.

    Holmes reported to a Texas prison camp in late May after being sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison at the end of last year. The Bureau of Prisons online database now reports, however, that Holmes’ expected release date is December 29, 2032 – which would take roughly two years off of her full sentence.

    The discrepancy appears to be due to how the Bureau of Prisons calculates its estimated release date.

    A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons told CNN that the agency cannot comment on the conditions of any individual inmate, but said that inmates can earn Good Conduct Time (or GCT) that is calculated into their projected release date. Qualified inmates are currently eligible for up to 54 days of GCT time for each year of the sentence imposed by the court.

    Moreover, inmates have other ways of earning time credits while incarcerated, the spokesperson said, pointing to a range of other factors that could go into calculating the agency’s estimated release date, including an inmate’s participation in various prison programs. These factors that go into calculating an estimated release date are not unique to Holmes’ case, but standard for inmates.

    Holmes is currently serving out her sentence at Federal Prison Camp Bryan, a minimum security federal prison camp that is approximately 100 miles from Houston. Her request to remain free on bail while she fights to overturn her conviction was denied by an appellate court in May.

    Holmes was once an icon in the tech world, serving as a poster child for the limitless ambitions and potential of Silicon Valley. She is now one of the rare tech executives to be serving prison time after being convicted early last year on multiple charges of defrauding investors while running Theranos.

    Theranos was valued at $9 billion at its peak – making Holmes a paper billionaire. The company began to unravel after a Wall Street Journal investigation in 2015 reported that Theranos had only ever performed roughly a dozen of the hundreds of tests it offered using its proprietary technology, and with questionable accuracy. It also came to light that Theranos was relying on third-party manufactured devices from traditional blood testing companies rather than its own technology.

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