The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help speed the approval of new drugs and medical devices. That’s one of several priorities federal officials detailed June 10 in JAMA. They said AI could help shorten review times, speeding delivery of treatments to people who need them. …  read on >  read on >

Many folks with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are turning to TikTok for advice, but they aren’t likely to receive useful and accurate information, a new study says. Analysis of 86 top IBD videos with a combined 235 million views found low factual quality, researchers report in the May/June issue of the journal Gastroenterology Nursing. “Most…  read on >  read on >

Emergency surgeries are gnawing away at U.S. health care spending, with racial disparities fueling the bill, a new study says. Emergency surgeries cost about 33% more than planned procedures, averaging $13,645 more per patient, researchers write. And costs for these emergency procedures are even higher among Americans of color, results show. Emergency surgeries are needed…  read on >  read on >

A Texas woman has died after using tap water in a sinus rinse, leading to a rare but often fatal brain infection, health officials report. The 71-year-old woman died from a condition called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), which is caused by a microscopic organism called Naegleria fowleri. This brain-eating amoeba can live in warm freshwater…  read on >  read on >

Prompt treatment with a drug combo can effectively manage chronic kidney disease in people with type 2 diabetes, a new clinical trial shows. Patients prescribed the combination of finerenone and empagliflozin experienced a 52% decrease in their urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio, researchers report in the New England Journal of Medicine. An elevated ratio is a sign…  read on >  read on >