Oregon Drug Treatment Hotline Cost $7,000 Per Call

 In 2020, Oregon voted to decriminalize the possession and use of almost all drugs. Now, addicts do hard drugs in the open, and a treatment hotline has so far cost taxpayers $7,000 per call, according to The Economist, putting the spending at $1.4 million.

The Associated Press reported Oregon was “awash in treatment funds after decriminalizing drugs,” adding the state has allocated $265 million to recovery centers. The funding came from taxes levied on the sale of marijuana. Sadly, the rollout of these funds has been slow, with only $184 million distributed as of May 26.

Despite this massive funding, The Economist reported that “…help seems hard to come by.” The overdose death rate in Oregon almost doubled since 2019, twice the national average.

The New York Times has reported on the horrid conditions on the streets of Portland, including needles and humans feces littering the streets, drug addicts using drugs at all times of the day, and violent addicts in tents beating other homeless people with baseball bats.

One program that has been particularly costly and unsuccessful is the treatment hotline. Meant to be a resource for addicts to call for help after receiving a citation for using drugs, The Economist found that in its first two years of existence, fewer than 200 people called the hotline, and fewer than 40 callers were interested in treatment. That put its cost to taxpayers at $7,000 per call.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2023/08/30/oregon_drug_treatment_hotline_cost_7000_per_call_975339.html

JPMorgan processed more than $1 bln for Epstein, US Virgin Islands says

 A lawyer for the U.S. Virgin Islands said on Thursday that JPMorgan Chase told U.S. authorities it processed more than $1 billion for Jeffrey Epstein over 16 years.

JPMorgan reported the transactions as suspicious to the U.S. Treasury Department following Epstein's suicide in 2019, Mimi Liu, a lawyer for the territory, said at a hearing concerning its lawsuit against the largest U.S. bank.

Reuters did not view the bank's disclosures to the Treasury, which are not public. A JPMorgan spokesperson declined to comment.

Epstein had been a JPMorgan client from 1998 to 2013, when the bank fired him. The disgraced financier had been awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges at the time of his death.

The U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned two private islands, is suing JPMorgan for at least $190 million and likely much more, saying it ignored red flags that Epstein was running a sex trafficking operation because he was a lucrative client.

JPMorgan has denied knowing that Epstein was running a sex trafficking operation, and has faulted the territory for having a cozy relationship with him.

Liu mentioned the $1 billion amount, which had not been previously disclosed, in arguing that U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan should find before the case goes to trial that the bank participated in Epstein's sex trafficking.

She said no reasonable juror could find that JPMorgan was in the dark about its jet-setting client.

"JPMorgan was a full service bank for Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking," Liu said.

Felicia Ellsworth, a lawyer for JPMorgan, said it was not appropriate for the judge to determine the question of the bank's knowledge before trial, because current and former employees have testified that they were unaware of Epstein's sex trafficking.

She said JPMorgan notified the Treasury Department at least six times about Epstein's transactions, including as early as 2002.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jpmorgan-processed-more-1-bln-001948071.html

ADC Therapeutics calls it quits on solid tumor collaboration with Adagene

 ADC Therapeutics is stepping away from a solid tumor pact with Adagene rather than take the collaboration to the next stage.

Details were sparse in Adagene’s Thursday update, which said only that the deal had expired after ADC elected not to sign into a licensing option. Adagene says the two companies remain open to working together in the future. 

The two linked up in April 2019 to combine Adagene’s antibody production platform with ADC’s payload attachment to produce a new antibody-drug conjugate aimed at a solid tumor target. ADC also had the option to tack on one additional target.

Adagene received research funding plus an undisclosed upfront payment, with the potential for additional development and commercial milestone payments. A spokesperson for ADC did not immediately respond when asked whether any milestone payments were triggered.

ADC, like many of its biopharma colleagues, has been in cash preservation mode as it tries to maximize value for approved med Zynlonta. The company announced in May that it would focus on the lowest-risk R&D projects, culling two preclinical assets as a result. Corresponding layoffs left 17% of the company without a job, with the cuts mainly impacting preclinical researchers and employees working in “back office efficiencies.” 

More than two months later, the company scrapped a trial testing Zynlonta combined with Roche’s Rituxan to treat unfit or frail patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The FDA had placed a partial hold on the study after 12 respiratory-related events arose, seven of which led to death. The company concluded that 11 out of the 12 events were not related to the study drug. 

https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/adc-therapeutics-calls-it-quits-2019-adagene-research-and-licensing-pact

AI may influence whether you can get pain medication

 Elizabeth Amirault had never heard of a Narx Score. But she said she learned last year the tool had been used to track her medication use.

During an August 2022 visit to a hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Amirault told a nurse practitioner she was in severe pain, she said. She received a puzzling response.

“Your Narx Score is so high, I can’t give you any narcotics,” she recalled the man saying, as she waited for an MRI before a hip replacement.

Tools like Narx Scores are used to help medical providers review controlled substance prescriptions. They influence, and can limit, the prescribing of painkillers, similar to a credit score influencing the terms of a loan. Narx Scores and an algorithm-generated overdose risk rating are produced by healthcare technology company Bamboo Health (formerly Appriss Health) in its NarxCare platform.

Such systems are designed to fight the nation’s opioid epidemic, which has led to an alarming number of overdose deaths. The platforms draw on data about prescriptions for controlled substances that states collect to identify patterns of potential problems involving patients and physicians. State and federal health agencies, law enforcement officials and healthcare providers have enlisted these tools, but the mechanics behind the formulas used are generally not shared with the public.

Artificial intelligence is working its way into more parts of American life. As AI spreads within the healthcare landscape, it brings familiar concerns of bias and accuracy and whether government regulation can keep up with rapidly advancing technology.

The use of systems to analyze opioid-prescribing data has sparked questions over whether they have undergone enough independent testing outside of the companies that developed them, making it hard to know how they work.

Lacking the ability to see inside these systems leaves only clues to their potential impact. Some patients say they have been cut off from needed care. Some doctors say their ability to practice medicine has been unfairly threatened. Researchers warn that such technology—despite its benefits—can have unforeseen consequences if it improperly flags patients or doctors.

“We need to see what’s going on to make sure we’re not doing more harm than good,” said Jason Gibbons, Ph.D., a health economist at the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus. “We’re concerned that it’s not working as intended, and it’s harming patients.”

Amirault, 34, said she has dealt for years with chronic pain from health conditions such as sciatica, degenerative disc disease and avascular necrosis, which results from restricted blood supply to the bones.

The opioid Percocet offers her some relief. She’d been denied the medication before but never had been told anything about a Narx Score, she said.

In a chronic pain support group on Facebook, she found others posting about NarxCare, which scores patients based on their supposed risk of prescription drug misuse. She’s convinced her ratings negatively influenced her care.

“Apparently being sick and having a bunch of surgeries and different doctors, all of that goes against me,” Amirault said.

Database-driven tracking has been linked to a decline in opioid prescriptions, but evidence is mixed on its impact on curbing the epidemic. Overdose deaths continue to plague the country, and patients like Amirault have said the monitoring systems leave them feeling stigmatized as well as cut off from pain relief.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that in 2021, about 52 million American adults suffered from chronic pain, and about 17 million people lived with pain so severe it limited their daily activities. To manage the pain, many use prescription opioids, which are tracked in nearly every state through electronic databases known as prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs).

The last state to adopt a program, Missouri, is still getting it up and running.

More than 40 states and territories use the technology from Bamboo Health to run PDMPs. Those data can be fed into NarxCare, a separate suite of tools to help medical professionals make decisions. Hundreds of healthcare facilities and five of the top six major pharmacy retailers also use NarxCare, the company said.

The platform generates three Narx Scores based on a patient’s prescription activity involving narcotics, sedatives and stimulants. A peer-reviewed study showed the “Narx Score metric could serve as a useful initial universal prescription opioid-risk screener.”

NarxCare’s algorithm-generated “Overdose Risk Score” draws on a patient’s medication information from PDMPs—such as the number of doctors writing prescriptions, the number of pharmacies used and drug dosage—to help medical providers assess a patient’s risk of opioid overdose.

Bamboo Health did not share the specific formula behind the algorithm nor address questions about the accuracy of its Overdose Risk Score but said it continues to review and validate the algorithm behind it based on current overdose trends.

Guidance from the CDC advised clinicians to consult PDMP data before prescribing pain medications. But the agency warned that “special attention should be paid to ensure that PDMP information is not used in a way that is harmful to patients.”

These prescription-drug data have led patients to be dismissed from clinician practices, the CDC said, which could leave patients at risk of being untreated or undertreated for pain. The agency further warned that risk scores may be generated by “proprietary algorithms that are not publicly available” and could lead to biased results.

Bamboo Health said that NarxCare can show providers all of a patient’s scores on one screen but that these tools should never replace decisions made by physicians.

Some patients say the tools have had an outsize impact on their treatment.

Bev Schechtman, 47, who lives in North Carolina, said she has occasionally used opioids to manage pain flare-ups from Crohn’s disease. As vice president of the Doctor Patient Forum, a chronic pain patient advocacy group, she said she has heard from others reporting medication access problems, many of which she worries are caused by red flags from databases.

“There’s a lot of patients cut off without medication,” according to Schechtman, who said some have turned to illicit sources when they can’t get their prescriptions. “Some patients say to us, ‘It’s either suicide or the streets.’”

The stakes are high for pain patients. Research shows rapid dose changes can increase the risk of withdrawal, depression, anxiety and even suicide.

Some doctors who treat chronic pain patients say they, too, have been flagged by data systems and then lost their license to practice and were prosecuted.

Lesly Pompy, M.D., a pain medicine and addiction specialist in Monroe, Michigan, believes such systems were involved in a legal case against him.

His medical office was raided by a mix of local and federal law enforcement agencies in 2016 because of his patterns in prescribing pain medicine. A year after the raid, Pompy’s medical license was suspended. In 2018, he was indicted on charges of illegally distributing opioid pain medication and healthcare fraud.

“I knew I was taking care of patients in good faith,” he said. A federal jury in January acquitted him of all charges. He said he’s working to have his license restored.

One firm, Qlarant, a Maryland-based technology company, said it has developed algorithms “to identify questionable behavior patterns and interactions for controlled substances, and for opioids in particular,” involving medical providers.

The company, in an online brochure (PDF), said its “extensive government work” includes partnerships with state and federal enforcement entities such as the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

In a promotional video, the company said its algorithms can “analyze a wide variety of data sources” including court records, insurance claims, drug monitoring data, property records and incarceration data to flag providers.

William Mapp, the company’s chief technology officer, stressed the final decision about what to do with that information is left up to people—not the algorithms.

Mapp said “Qlarant’s algorithms are considered proprietary and our intellectual property” and that they have not been independently peer-reviewed.

“We do know that there’s going to be some percentage of error, and we try to let our customers know,” Mapp said. “It sucks when we get it wrong. But we’re constantly trying to get to that point where there are fewer things that are wrong.”

Prosecutions against doctors through the use of prescribing data have attracted the attention of the American Medical Association (AMA).

“These unknown and unreviewed algorithms have resulted in physicians having their prescribing privileges immediately suspended without due process or review by a state licensing board—often harming patients in pain because of delays and denials of care,” said Bobby Mukkamala, M.D., chair of the AMA’s Substance Use and Pain Care Task Force.

Even critics of drug-tracking systems and algorithms say there is a place for data and artificial intelligence systems in reducing the harms of the opioid crisis.

“It’s just a matter of making sure that the technology is working as intended,” said health economist Gibbons.

https://www.fiercebiotech.com/medtech/artificial-intelligence-may-influence-whether-you-can-get-pain-medication

Bristol: 'modest' multiple myeloma survival data on heir to Revlimid, Pomalyst

 Bristol Myers Squibb has reported full phase 1 data on one of its successors to Revlimid and Pomalyst. An outside expert called the multiple myeloma survival data “modest,” but the potential for the therapy, mezigdomide, to find a place in combination therapies is spurring hopes heading into phase 3 readouts. 

BMS shared an earlier cut of the data, which tracked patients through to May, late last year. The figures shifted a little, both for and against mezigdomide, in the New England Journal of Medicine paper posted Wednesday. The paper covers outcomes in recipients of mezigdomide, a cereblon E3 ligase modulator created in light of insights into the mechanism of thalidomide analogues, up to mid-September. Subjects had received at least three prior lines of treatment, including Revlimid and Pomalyst. 

The final median duration of response (DoR) and progression-free survival (PFS) are shorter than the preliminary data released last year. DoR fell from 8.3 months to 7.6 months. PFS slipped slightly, falling from 4.6 months to 4.4 months. Overall survival data remained immature as of the September cutoff. In an accompanying editorial, Jake Shortt, a professor at Monash University, called the PFS “modest.”

Response rates ticked up between the two looks at the data. The overall response rate rose from 40% to 41%, while the proportion of participants experiencing a very good partial response climbed from 18% to 20%. The data leave unanswered questions about whether mezigdomide can find a place in the changing multiple myeloma landscape.

Late-line treatment of multiple myeloma has changed since Celgene began the mezigdomide clinical trial in 2018. Over the past two years, Johnson & Johnson has won approval for a pair of bispecific T-cell engagers, Tecvayli and Talvey, and a CAR-T cell therapy, Carvykti, in people who have received four or more lines of therapy, by linking the treatments to response rates upward of 65% and “game changing” PFS.

The authors of the mezigdomide paper note the efficacy of cell therapies and bispecifics but caution that the “therapies may not be available or appropriate for all patients, and the risk of severe toxic effects such as cytokine release syndrome” may outweigh the potential benefits in some patient populations.

“Oral regimens such as mezigdomide and dexamethasone can readily translate a potential clinical benefit into real-world practice, especially among patients with limited access to specialized hospitals, since patients do not have to be hospitalized to receive these treatments,” the authors wrote.

BMS has identified mezigdomide as a potential replacement for its own Pomalyst in combinations aimed at patients who have received one to three lines of therapy, including Revlimid. A phase 3 trial in that setting got underway 11 months ago. BMS is also studying the effect of adding mezigdomide to Amgen’s Kyprolis and dexamethasone in a second phase 3 trial that began enrolling patients earlier this year.

https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/bms-posts-modest-multiple-myeloma-survival-data-heir-revlimid-pomalyst

GOP governors call on Congress to take more action on US drug shortages

 After FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D., recently made comments about the untenable nature of generic drug production in the U.S., a clutch of governors has raised its own set of concerns about shortages.

This week, 11 Republican governors sent a letter (PDF) to Congress demanding action on the spate of drug shortages plaguing the U.S.

Citing shortfalls of critical meds like albuterol, amoxicillin and certain chemotherapies, the governors noted that shortages have sometimes lasted for years, often with “no good explanation for why.”

One possible reason for the shortages, they added, is tied to the fact that more than 80% of active ingredients in prescription drugs sold in the U.S. come from overseas.

“This limited supply chain creates a national security risk and leaves America competing with other nations for essential resources,” the joint letter states.

The governors called on Congress to adopt a clutch of new policy solutions to ensure adequate supplies of medicines.

Their letter calls for added transparency in the pharmaceutical manufacturing chain, ranging from the sourcing of raw materials to the finished product, including country of origin labeling. Additionally, Congress should help foster increased diversity in generic drug manufacturing with regards to both raw materials and final manufacturing, the governors said.

The group is also pressing for more transparency from the FDA about ongoing shortages and events that can cause supply chain disruptions. They further want the agency to reconsider its expiration date guidance on certain medications.

“The FDA and medical companies are currently restricted by federal law regarding their transparency policies,” the governors wrote. “Congress must grant additional authorities that allow more transparency throughout the drug manufacturing process.”

The governors also appear to favor drug importation. The group requests that Congress enable waivers to allow the purchase of medications from Canada to quickly expand the U.S. supply chain.

Lastly, the governors want the U.S. to foster a regulatory environment that is “more favorable” to domestic production.

The governors’ concerns echo those raised by Califf last week.

Discussing drug shortages during a presentation of the Alliance for a Stronger FDA, Califf said the “fundamental problem” is that “we essentially have two drug industries in the U.S.”

There’s the “innovator industry,” where Califf said he thinks "the prices are too high,” and then there’s the generics industry, where “a lot of the prices are too low.” 

“What I mean by that is that the price has been driven down below the cost of manufacturing and distributing the drug,” he said. “And we have an industry which is continuing to leave the U.S. because it’s not viable to run the business.”

The FDA currently lists around 137 unresolved drug shortages on its online database. 

https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/republican-governors-call-congress-resolve-spate-us-drug-shortages

Ukraine's Defense Chief Expected To Be Sacked Next Week Amid Corruption Probe

 Significant rumors are once again swirling over the possible imminent sacking of Ukraine's defense minister, with Bloomberg also reporting.

Defense chief Oleksiy Reznikov has overseen a series of embarrassing military corruption scandals at a time Kiev is trying to tout its democratic and corruption reform credentials. He could be dismissed from the top post as early as next week, and given a new role as ambassador to the United Kingdom.

But the decision is "not finalized" according to sources speaking to Kyiv Post, which names Rustem Umerov – currently head of the State Property Fund – as a likely candidate to replace Reznikov.

DM Reznikov has overseen Ukraine's military and defense strategy since the start of the Feb. 2022 invasion, but the much-hyped counteroffensive launched at the start of the summer has been widely seen as a failure, despite tens of billions of dollars of Western aid and weaponry.

Reznikov is now front and center in an anti-graft probe, Bloomberg writes, citing local Ukrainian media:

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s anti-graft crackdown is fueling speculation that he may dismiss Ukraine’s defense minister following accusations of corruption linked to procuring military supplies.

The Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper, citing sources it didn’t name, said on Thursday Minister Oleksii Reznikov may be replaced as early as next week. The report followed accusations from anti-corruption activists and media that under his leadership the ministry has purchased food and uniforms at inflated prices. It also coincides with comments from a lawmaker that Reznikov may be shifted to the post of Kyiv’s ambassador to the UK.

Additionally, parliament's People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak, wrote in a Thursday Telegram post that "…Rustem Umerov will be nominated for the position of Minister of Defense." 

Kyiv Post has detailed the latest scandal as follows:

The latest scandal was exposed by Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Nikolov who, citing sources at the State Customs Service of Ukraine, reported that the Ministry of Defense had acquired 233,000 winter jackets for $20 million from a Turkish firm.

Documentation from customs regarding one shipment unveiled a startling increase in cost for a batch of 4,900 jackets en route from Turkey to Ukraine.

The price had tripled, soaring from $142,000 to $421,000 (a per-unit rise from $29 to $86). Furthermore, it was revealed that the jackets, despite being marketed as winter wear, turned out to be lightweight.

High-ranking military officers and Kiev officials have for months come under scrutiny for driving expensive luxury cars and acquiring expensive villas. 

The Ministry of Agriculture has also recently been under fore for inflated pasta purchases, which caused a reported loss for state coffers of at least $1.7 million, and triggering suspicions that corrupt officials lined their pockets.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukraines-defense-chief-expected-be-sacked-next-week-amid-corruption-probe

Trump Says Fear-Mongering About New COVID Variants A 'Lunatic' Ploy To Rig 2024 Election

 by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused "left-wing lunatics" of fear-mongering about new COVID-19 variants in order to justify the reintroduction of their left-wing lockdown and mandate policies, which included the use of drop boxes and mail-in ballots in 2020, in a bid to rig the 2024 election.

President Trump made the remarks in a video posted on Aug. 30 on Truth Social, saying that his message should serve as a warning to every COVID-19 "tyrant" who not only wants to "take away our freedom" but who would be playing into the hands of those wanting to exploit COVID-19 restrictions to interfere in next year's election.

"The left-wing lunatics are trying very hard to bring back COVID lockdowns and mandates with all of their sudden fear-mongering about the new variants that are coming," President Trump said in the video.

Recently, there's been a torrent of media reports about a new COVID-19 variant circulating, while President Joe Biden said last week that all Americans would likely be advised to get another booster.

In his video message, President Trump said that his political opponents are eager to leverage COVID-19 "hysteria" for political ends.

"They want to restart the COVID hysteria so they can justify more lockdowns, more censorship, more illegal drop boxes, more mail-in ballots, and trillions of dollars in payoffs to their political allies heading into the 2024 election," the former president said.

He charged that "they rigged the 2020 election and now they're trying to do the same thing all over again by rigging the most important election in the history of our country, the 2024 election, even if it means trying to bring back COVID."

President Trump has maintained that he believes he was was robbed of victory in 2020, due in part to last-minute changes to election rules that removed some guardrails for mail-in ballots and, at least in theory, made it easier to cheat.

While the former president lost nearly all of his election-related lawsuits, many were dismissed not on merit but on technicalities like the doctrine of laches, which basically says that a legal challenge was brought too late and prejudiced the defendant.

'We Will Not Comply'

A number of conservative commentators have pointed to the sharp rise of COVID-19-related media reporting in recent weeks, while pointing to the threat of renewed restrictions for civil liberties—and the upcoming election.

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk has claimed there's a plot to push "COVIDian tyranny" and "lock you down again just in time for the election" and facilitate the launch of a "Marxist-type revolution."

Former member of Congress Ron Paul penned an op-ed on LewRockwell.com saying that the threat supposedly posed by the new COVID-19 variant is being amplified across media platforms "just in time for election season."

"Why are they coming back around for another round of Covid tyranny?" Mr. Paul wrote. "Fear is a weapon to gain control."

"Last time around, they generated fear to radically change how America voted. Suddenly, everyone was mailed ballots. How closely were they checked? No one knew and no one dared ask. The people who did ask about the election are now facing jail terms," Mr. Paul wrote, presumably referring to some Jan. 6 defendants.

"They want us to shut up while they do it again. Will we?" Mr. Paul asked.

In his message, President Trump delivered a forceful response to this question, which has been expressed in one form or another by numerous conservative commentators.

"Don't even think about it," President Trump said, addressing his remarks to "every COVID tyrant who wants to take away our freedom."

"Hear these words: We will not comply!" the former president continued. "We will not shut down our schools, we will not accept your lockdowns, we will not abide by your mask mandates, and we will not tolerate your vaccine mandates."

The former president then said that if elected president in 2024, he would use every available authority to push back on mask and vaccine mandates, giving as an example cutting federal funding to any college or airline that imposes such mandates.

"They will fail because I will not let it happen," the former president said.

'Likely To Be Recommended'

President Trump's remarks comes as COVID-19 hospitalizations have been on the rise across the country, with three new variants of the disease said to be spreading.

Multiple drug companies, including Pfizer, Novavax, and Moderna, have introduced new vaccines they say will be effective to protect against the COVID-19 variant of interest EG.5, or Eris—although the vaccines do not protect against transmission.

President Biden told reporters in South Lake Tahoe, California, on Aug. 25 that he had asked for more funding for a new COVID vaccine.

“I signed off this morning on a proposal we have to present to the Congress, a request for additional funding for a new vaccine—that is necessary, that works," President Biden said.

"And tentatively, not decided finally yet, tentatively it is recommended—it is likely to be recommended—that everybody get it, no matter whether they got it before," he added.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials recently told reporters that the vaccines are expected to become available to the public in mid-September, though they are still pending approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

An independent CDC advisory committee is scheduled to meet on Sept. 12 to vote on recommended guidelines for eligibility for the new COVID-19 shots.

Nathan Worcester contributed to this report.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-says-fear-mongering-about-new-covid-variants-lunatic-ploy-rig-2024-election

'Orwellian' AI Traffic Cameras Raise Privacy Concerns

by Matthew Lysiak via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Existing traffic cameras set up across America to find speeding and red light scofflaws are being replaced by smarter, artificial intelligence-fueled versions equipped with upgraded software that for the first time gives the government the ability to monitor behavior inside of private vehicles, raising the alarm of privacy advocates.

“The public should be rightly concerned,” Electronic Frontier Foundation Senior Policy Analyst Matthew Guariglia told The Epoch Times. “Congress has completely abdicated their responsibility to protect people's privacy.”

The Biden administration’s 2022 $2.2 trillion infrastructure legislation has led to a dramatic rise in new traffic cameras after federal guidance issued after the bill became law allowed many states to invest in surveillance equipment. Previously, transportation funds allocated to states were limited to fund infrastructure projects, such as repairing roadways and bridges, with the spending of federal funds for cameras only permitted for school zones. However, the Biden administration authorized states to utilize up to 10 percent of the bill's $15.6 billion highway safety funds to purchase cameras and other “automated traffic enforcement” tools—and many did just that.

The most recent data compiled last year by Comparitech, a consumer advocacy group focused on cybersecurity, found that the number of cameras on American streets has exploded, with the average city having around six cameras per 1,000 people while the most-watched city, Atlanta, Georgia, has nearly 50 cameras per 1,000 people. Data revealing the current number of traffic cameras is unavailable, but is expected to be significantly larger.

The decision to open the infrastructure funding to traffic cameras came as an attempt to decrease traffic-related deaths, according to officials.

“Almost 95 percent of our Nation’s transportation deaths occur on America’s streets, roads, and highways, and they are on the rise,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in the National Roadway Safety Strategy release following passage of the legislation.

However, many see the increase in surveillance technology as a cash grab for cities trying to make up for post COVID budget shortfalls. In March, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser proposed adding hundreds of new traffic cameras to city streets to compensate for a projected drop in revenue of nearly $400 million. Priya Sarathy Jones, deputy executive director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center, told Reuters that cameras monitoring traffic are “one of the easiest things for us to turn to and generate revenue quickly.”

Further, software upgrades that allow for the ability to analyze the inside of vehicles and the behaviors of the drivers and passengers have raised concerns among privacy advocates of an increasingly intrusive government that would have seemed straight out of a dystopian science fiction novel to past generations.

In the United Kingdom, authorities have already issued hundreds of fines to drivers after AI traffic cameras were used to detect violations such as not wearing a seatbelt.

United Kingdom Civil Liberties campaigner Jake Hurfurt, of Big Brother Watch, told the newspaper The Sun, "This kind of intrusive and creepy surveillance which treats every passer-by as a potential suspect is excessive and normalizing. It poses a threat to everyone’s privacy."

“People should be free to go about their lives without being analyzed by faceless AI systems."

In July, local governments in Australia installed new phone-detection cameras along roads to spot drivers who are texting on their mobile devices.

In America, cities like Seattle, Tacoma, and San Francisco, and Reno have also adopted AI traffic cameras with the stated goal of improving the flow of traffic. Los Angeles and New York have also discussed utilizing the technology.

While the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution offers protection against video searches conducted by the police, there are currently no general, legally enforceable rules to limit privacy invasions.

Mr. Guariglia warns that the ethical lines between the need for public safety and an Orwelian police state can sometimes become blurred with advances in technology.

“I can definitely see it coming where cameras are doing analytics on passengers inside of a car,” said Mr. Guariglia. “This could make citizens susceptible to police surveillance in giving up the knowledge of where they worship, what lawyer they are going to see, or which reporters they are talking to.”

In at least one other country, residents have already begun fighting back against the technology.

After London rolled out an expansion of its Ultra Low Emission Zone program, which uses AI traffic cameras to identify and fine drivers of older vehicles who enter the city, many citizens showed their outrage through acts of vandalism. Police say this month hundreds of intelligent cameras have been damaged, disconnected, or stolen by a vigilante group who call themselves the Blade Runners.

"The cameras are going to keep coming down," Nick Arlett, an organizer of the protests, told CBS News. "People are angry."

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/dont-look-orwellian-ai-traffic-cameras-raise-privacy-concerns

Sweetened Drinks Are Linked to Chronic Liver Disease And Liver Cancer

 by Flora Zhao via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Do you find yourself drinking a sweetened beverage every day? Be cautious, as this habit could increase the risk of chronic liver disease and even liver cancer.

It is widely known that consuming sweetened drinks can contribute to obesity and insulin resistance. A recent prospective cohort study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has further revealed detrimental health effects linked to sweetened drinks, particularly concerning liver disease. The study showed that individuals who regularly consume sweetened drinks face an astonishing 85 percent higher likelihood of developing liver cancer and a 68 percent higher risk of mortality from chronic liver disease than those who consume fewer sweetened drinks.

Elevated Risks of Liver Cancer and Liver Disease

This study was led by scientists from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and it drew data from a comprehensive prospective clinical database in the United States: the Women’s Health Initiative. The database has been gathering information from a cohort of over 160,000 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79. The information collection concluded in 2020, spanning a follow-up period of approximately 21 years.

“Epidemiological studies on dietary factors and liver cancer and chronic liver disease mortality are limited,” the researchers emphasized in the report. “To our knowledge, this is the first study to report an association between sugar-sweetened beverage intake and chronic liver disease mortality.”

Participants completed the survey questionnaire detailing their consumption of sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened drinks, excluding fruit juices. These individuals were divided into three groups:

• Women who consumed three servings or less per month.
• Women who drank one to six servings per week.
• Women who drank one or more servings per day (with one serving equivalent to 12 ounces or 355 milliliters, roughly the size of a standard beverage can).

The findings revealed that women who consumed one or more servings of sweetened drinks daily had an 85 percent higher risk of developing liver cancer than those who drank three servings or less per month. Additionally, their mortality rate due to chronic liver disease was 68 percent higher.

In the study, “chronic liver disease” refers to conditions like nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, liver fibrosis, alcoholic liver disease, and chronic hepatitis. During the calculation, potential factors that could influence liver disease, including age, ethnicity, education level, smoking and alcohol consumption habits, and body mass index, were taken into account.

Known risk factors for liver cancer include hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) infections, metabolic disorders, excessive alcohol consumption, and foods contaminated with aflatoxins, such as peanuts and corn. “However, approximately 40% of patients with liver cancer do not have these risk factors. … Therefore, it is important to identify dietary risk factors for liver cancer and chronic liver disease mortality,” the researchers stated in the report.

The Impact of Sweetened Drinks on the Liver

Other studies have also corroborated the damaging effects of sweetened drinks on the liver.

A prospective European cohort study revealed that individuals who consume over six servings of soft drinks per week face a notably higher risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (the most common form of liver cancer) by 83 percent compared to those who consume fewer than one serving. The risk increases by 6 percent for each additional serving per week. Another study conducted in the United States indicated that drinking sugar-sweetened soda is associated with an 18 percent increase in the risk of liver cancer.

Research has also demonstrated a link between sweetened drink consumption and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease onset. A systematic review and meta-analysis published in the European Journal of Nutrition revealed that individuals who consumed the highest amounts of sugar-sweetened drinks had a 40 percent increased odds of developing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease compared to those who consumed the least. Another study in 2022 proposed that individuals who frequently consume sugar-sweetened drinks have 2.53 times increased odds of developing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease compared to those who rarely drink such beverages.

https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/sweetened-drinks-are-linked-chronic-liver-disease-and-liver-cancer