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Maine Senate candidate covers controversial tattoo

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Maine Senate candidate covers controversial tattoo



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Oct. 22, 2025, 2:08 PM EDTBy Elizabeth CohenWhen a radiologist reviewed Deirdre Hall’s mammogram images last summer, everything seemed fine. There were no shadows or lumps or irregular patches that could signal cancer.The doctor gave it a second look for one reason: artificial intelligence software had drawn a circle around an area in the upper part of her left breast that it found suspicious.Because the AI software had put up that red flag, Hall, 55, got an order for an ultrasound that led to a biopsy. There were four cancerous tumors in the spot AI had identified.“This would have been completely missed without the AI,” said Dr. Sean Raj, chief medical officer and chief innovation officer at SimonMed Imaging in Tempe, Arizona, where Hall had her mammogram.Not only was Hall’s breast tissue dense, but the layers of tissue crisscrossed over each other in a particularly complicated pattern.“It camouflaged the cancer,” said Raj, a breast imaging specialist. “Even I could have missed it.”They caught her cancer at Stage 1, said Hall, who’s a respiratory therapist at a local hospital.“They didn’t find anything in the lymph nodes, which they were grateful for,” she said. “I’m so glad they caught it early.” “I’m glad it was found,” Deirdre Hall said about the software program that detected suspicious images on her mammogram.Courtesy Deirdre HallWhen reading women’s routine mammograms, radiologists are increasingly augmenting their eyes with artificial intelligence. While many major medical centers have adopted the technology enthusiastically, some experts point to concerns, including a lack of studies in the U.S. showing that AI actually saves lives and does not needlessly raise concerns about benign growths. Experts train AI software by feeding it hundreds of thousands, or sometimes millions of mammogram images. Some of the images contain cancerous tumors, and, over time, the AI learns to distinguish the often subtle differences between malignant and benign tissue. Some AI programs, like the one used on Hall, identify a suspicious area. Others predict the chance that a woman will develop breast cancer. At the University of California, San Francisco, researchers are using AI to try to speed up the time from a mammogram to cancer diagnosis. In a study released this week, the radiologists used the technology to flag suspicious-looking mammograms so those patients could be seen more quickly. For patients with breast cancer, that AI triage cut the average time from mammogram to biopsy by 87%, from 73 days to nine days. The study was posted Tuesday to the preprint server MedRxiv. (Studies posted to preprint servers have not been peer-reviewed.) AI software used by SimonMed Imaging, where Hall had her mammogram, marked an area suspicious for cancer.Courtesy Deirdre HallHowever, Dr. Sonja Hughes, vice president of community health at Susan G. Komen, a breast cancer organization, said more research is needed before AI is used as the standard of care. “We’re not there yet,” she said. “We don’t have enough research or enough data.”Dense breasts: Finding a snowball in a blizzardMammograms have saved countless lives, but they’re imperfect. Dense breast tissue, which is a risk factor for developing cancer, makes mammograms harder to interpret. About 40% of U.S. women have dense breasts, according to the American Cancer Society. “It’s like trying to find a snowball in a blizzard,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, a professor of oncology and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University.The Food and Drug Administration has authorized many AI programs for mammograms, with varying rates of accuracy. The AI software used on Hall’s mammogram, called Lunit, accurately identified cancers 88.6% of the time, according to a 2024 JAMA Oncology study of more than 8,800 women in Sweden who got mammograms. Another study published in Radiology noted that AI software caught cancers that were missed by two radiologists. However, in the Sweden study, AI gave a false positive 7% of the time, saying there might be a tumor when there wasn’t one. A false positive can trigger more testing and anxiety while waiting for results. With any mammogram, the chance of having a false positive result is about 10%, according to research.A doctor interprets the screening’s resultsMajor academic medical centers using AI in their imaging centers include the MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and MedStar Health.In all centers, the software is used along with, not instead of, a radiologist’s eyes, as FDA regulations require a doctor to interpret mammograms. Some breast imaging experts see advantages to this human-machine combination.“The nice thing about AI is that it doesn’t get tired,” said Dr. Lisa Abramson, associate professor of radiology at Mount Sinai. “It’s not going to replace the job or the expertise of radiologists, but I think it’s only going to enhance our ability to detect more and more breast cancers.”Brawley, the Johns Hopkins professor, said AI could help women who don’t have access to radiologists who specialize in breast imaging, and instead have their mammograms read by general radiologists.A study using RadNet’s software found that without AI, specialists correctly identified breast cancers 89% of the time, compared with 84% for generalists. With AI, the accuracy for both groups rose to about 93%.“It’s incredibly subjective when a human reads a mammogram,” Brawley said. “Maybe it’s going to reduce the disparities in how these things are read.”Does AI cost more? Typically, academic medical centers don’t charge patients extra for the use of AI software, and they can’t charge insurance companies for it, since there’s no billing code specifically for the AI, according to Susan G. Komen, a nonprofit breast cancer organization. SimonMed, which has centers in 11 states, and RadNet, which has centers in eight states, don’t charge for an initial layer of AI on mammograms, although patients are charged $40 and $50 respectively if they opt to have their images run through a second set of the technology.Drawbacks of AIBrawley worries that AI might be too good at its job.According to the American Cancer Society, it’s possible that mammograms flag some tumors that are technically cancerous, but not life-threatening. The patient then undergoes the physical, emotional, and financial toll of treating a tumor that was never going to hurt her.“It’scancer, but it’s not genetically programmed to grow, spread, or kill,” Brawley said. “I am worried that AI may help us find even more of these tumors that don’t need to be found.”Brawley pointed to the lack of data in the U.S. that shows AI actually saves women’s lives.Last month, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles and University of California, Davis, announced a $16 million, two-year study at seven medical centers to take a deeper look at the technology.There are several other concerns about using AI in mammography. The technology isn’t perfect, and some worry that doctors could make mistakes if they become too dependent on it, according to an article last year in RadioGraphics. That’s why radiologists emphasize that AI is a tool, not a solution in itself. “It’s not going to replace the job or the expertise of radiologists,” said Abramson, the breast radiologist at Mount Sinai. “I think it’s only going to enhance our ability to detect more and more breast cancer.” Another concern is that if AI is trained mainly on breast images of white women, it could be less accurate for women of color, since genetic differences can make tumors look different.Hall, the Arizona patient, said she’s not necessarily a fan of AI in general — she says she finds the technology “creepy” — but she’s glad she paid $50 for the extra AI on her mammogram. “I don’t love all this AI stuff, but I definitely love this for me or anyone else in my position,” she said. “No matter how it was found, I’m glad it was found.” Guidance for mammogramsGuidance from the United Services Preventive Services Task Force recommends women to get a mammogram every other year starting at age 40. According to American Cancer Society guidelines:Women 45 to 54 should get mammograms every year.Women 55 and older can switch to a mammogram every other year, or they can choose to continue yearly mammograms.Dr. Shanthi Sivendran, senior vice president at the American Cancer Society, offers guidance for more accurate breast cancer screening. Try to go to the same place every year so radiologists can compare your images over time.Ask if a center uses radiologists who’ve completed a fellowship in breast imaging. In some rural or underserved areas, it may be harder to find these specialists, and so women should seek out radiologists who primarily read breast images. Try to find a center that can either provide or direct you to follow-up care, such as additional imaging, in case your mammogram finds something suspicious. According to FDA regulations, your mammogram report should state if you have dense breasts. If you do, ask your doctor about whether you might need additional imaging tests. Elizabeth CohenElizabeth Cohen is a Peabody Award-winning journalist and a health contributor to NBC News. She is the author of the book “The Empowered Patient.” 
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Nov. 7, 2025, 5:55 PM ESTBy Berkeley Lovelace Jr.President Donald Trump hailed his deal to slash the price of blockbuster weight loss drugs as a game changer, promising to make Wegovy and Zepbound more affordable for millions of Americans. But major gaps in the plan could blunt its impact, drug policy experts say: Some of the drugs the administration has promised discounts on haven’t been approved yet by the Food and Drug Administration; the lower prices for people paying out of pocket only appear to apply to the lowest doses of the drugs; and the deal doesn’t expand Medicare coverage to people seeking treatment for weight loss alone.“It’s a situation where we have more questions than answers,” said Juliette Cubanski, deputy director of the Medicare policy program at KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group. “Based on what we didn’t hear, that suggests to me that there’s a lot that the administration itself hasn’t even ironed out as of yet.”“It just feels,” she added, “a little bit too squishy right now.”U.S. President Donald Trump, joined by members of the pharmaceutical industry and administration officials, delivers remarks on lowering drug prices in the Oval Office at the White House on November 06, 2025 in Washington, DC. Andrew Harnik / Getty ImagesThe announcement marks one of the most ambitious efforts yet to tackle the high cost of weight loss drugs in the U.S. Wegovy and Zepbound carry list prices above $1,000 a month, a cost that both Republicans and Democrats have criticized as far too high, especially compared with what other countries pay. Administration officials say there’s still time to iron out details before the lower prices take effect. The lower prices that will be available through the administration’s self-pay platform, TrumpRx, aren’t expected to go live until the end of the year, and the Medicare and Medicaid changes won’t roll out until mid-2026.“I think the administration deserves credit for continuing to try to push the envelope on finding ways to lower prescription drug prices in the U.S.,” Cubanski said. She said KFF polling shows that health care costs, including prescription drugs, are a top concern for Americans.Art Caplan, the head of the division of medical ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City, said the deal, while ambitious, lacks crucial details.“It’s just murky as to how this will take shape, how the programs will work,” Caplan said. “You can’t really tell from what’s going on.”Unapproved drugsSeveral forms of the drugs included in the deal haven’t yet received FDA approval. That includes oral versions of the weight loss drugs — which are still under development or FDA review — and Eli Lilly’s new multidose injection pens, which haven’t been approved but the drugmaker says are the versions included in the pricing agreement.Lawrence Gostin, director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, said that makes the administration’s promises premature, since those lower prices can’t take effect until the products are on the market. “It is reckless to negotiate pricing deals on products which the FDA have not yet approved as safe and effective,” Gostin said. “The administration is getting way out ahead of its own safety agency.”An oral version of Wegovy, from Novo Nordisk, is being reviewed by the FDA. A decision is expected in the coming weeks. A multidose version of Zepbound is under review by the FDA, Lilly said. The company hasn’t submitted its weight loss pill, orforglipron, to the agency yet. Lilly CEO David Ricks told NBC News’ Tom Llamas on “Top Story” that the FDA would review the pill quickly. “As part of the deal, they’ve agreed to give us an expedited approval,” Ricks said. Different doses, different pricesThe White House said that both the pills and the injection pens will be available for discounted prices for people who pay out of pocket. Starting doses of weight loss pills will cost $149 for a month’s supply, and the shots will cost an average of $350 for a month’s supply, the White House said. The price of the injections is expected to fall to about $250 within two years, it said.But people may end up paying more.When people start on a weight loss drug, they start with the lowest dose possible — the starting dose — to allow the body to get used to the drug. Over the course of several months, however, they increase the dose until they get to a dose that’s effective for weight loss. Wegovy comes in five doses and Zepbound comes in six, with the most weight loss seen at the highest doses. Administration officials said the starting doses of GLP-1 pills will cost $149 a month, but did not say what higher doses would be.For the injections, the exact White House language was vague: The shots will initially have a “weighted average” price of $350 a month. Lilly, however, said Zepbound will be available at the lowest dose for $299 a month, with additional doses priced up to $449. A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk didn’t say whether doses would have different prices, but said it plans to publish an update on costs “in the coming weeks.”That means patients paying through TrumpRx could end up paying far more than the administration’s advertised prices — especially if patients don’t stay on the lowest doses for long, Caplan said. Limited coverageAs part of the deal, Lilly and Novo Nordisk will charge Medicare and Medicaid $245 for a month’s supply of the shots, a move that will likely provide savings for the programs. Medicare enrollees will have their costs capped at $50 a month. Medicaid enrollees often don’t have copays.But not everyone on Medicare or Medicaid is eligible.Under the deal, Medicare will continue to cover the weight loss drugs for people who are overweight or obese and have another qualifying condition, such as heart or kidney disease. The agreement doesn’t expand coverage to people using the drugs for weight loss alone. Medicare, by law, is barred from covering weight loss drugs, Cubanski, of KFF, said.Eli Lilly CEO talks deal to cut medication prices with the Trump administration09:10The lack of expanded coverage is a significant omission, said Stacie Dusetzina, a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Medicare is one of the largest payers in the country, and without broader coverage, millions of patients will remain priced out even as the administration touts lower costs.“You would have to change the law or go through several regulatory steps to be able to offer coverage outside of an already covered indication,” Dusetzina said. A White House spokesperson said the administration wanted to first lower prices for patients who would most benefit, such as those with risk factors associated with obesity. It’s possible the administration could eventually expand Medicare coverage through a pilot program. Ricks, the CEO of Lilly, said at a briefing Thursday that the government plans to launch one in spring 2026 that would be voluntary for Medicare plans. Still, there are issues Medicare plans would have to weigh, Dusetzina said. “The plans will have to think about how many more people might be interested in enrolling and using these drugs and how that would affect their costs,” she said. “So, again, it’s not totally clear to me how that will get operationalized and how soon Medicare beneficiaries would expect to see lower prices.”Ricks said the pilot would be “at no cost” to the plans.Dr. Shauna Levy, a specialist in obesity medicine and the medical director of the Tulane Weight Loss Center in New Orleans, said the deal is “a step in the right direction” but she worries if the administration is overstating the potential savings.“As an obesity community, I think we will remain skeptical of this deal until we see how it actually plays out,” Levy wrote in an email. Berkeley Lovelace Jr.Berkeley Lovelace Jr. is a health and medical reporter for NBC News. He covers the Food and Drug Administration, with a special focus on Covid vaccines, prescription drug pricing and health care. He previously covered the biotech and pharmaceutical industry with CNBC.
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Oct. 6, 2025, 7:40 PM EDTBy Zoë RichardsPresident Donald Trump said Monday that he would consider invoking the Insurrection Act “if it was necessary,” particularly if the courts or state and local officials delay his plans to deploy the National Guard.”I’d do it if it was necessary. So far it hasn’t been necessary. But we have an Insurrection Act for a reason,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when he was asked under what conditions he would consider the rarely used 19th century law.”If I had to enact it, I’d do that. If people were being killed and courts were holding us up or governors or mayors were holding us up, sure, I’d do that. I mean, I want to make sure that people aren’t killed. We have to make sure that our cities are safe,” he added.The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the president to mobilize the U.S. military to conduct civilian law enforcement activities under certain circumstances. It was last used during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.Trump was speaking about his efforts to federalize troops and crack down on crime in Democratic-run cities.A federal judge in Oregon on Sunday blocked the Trump administration from deploying federalized National Guard members from California or other states to Portland’s streets.U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, had also blocked the administration from deploying Oregon National Guard troops in Portland.”Portland’s been on fire for years, and not so much saving it,” Trump told reporters Monday. “We have to save something else, because I think that’s all insurrection. I really think that’s really criminal insurrection.”Oregon AG: Trump shouldn’t deploy troops to cities unless under ‘extreme circumstances’02:44Trump and his allies similarly referred to protesters opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles as “insurrectionists,” and Trump offered a similar answer in June when he was asked about any plans to invoke the Insurrection Act. “Depends on whether or not there’s an insurrection,” he said at the time, without ruling out the possibility of using it in the future.A key Trump ally argued earlier Monday that such action is needed now.In a text message to NBC News before Trump’s Oval Office remarks, former White House strategist Steve Bannon said Trump “needs to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 immediately and deploy active duty U.S. Army personnel and assets to Portland and Chicago — he needs to put Pritzker and Newsom in their place.”California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, both Democrats, have opposed Trump’s National Guard efforts in their states.At a news conference earlier Monday, Pritzker suggested that Trump is trying to sow unrest so he can invoke the Insurrection Act.”The Trump administration is following a playbook cause chaos, create fear and confusion, make it seem like peaceful protesters are a mob by firing gas pellets and tear gas canisters at them,” Pritzker said. “Why? To create the pretext for invoking the Insurrection Act so that he can send military troops to our city.”Illinois sued Monday to block the Trump administration from deploying federalized National Guard troops to Chicago. A judge declined to immediately block the administration’s move and instead scheduled a hearing for Thursday.White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement that Pritzker had failed to address violence in his state.“Amidst ongoing violent riots and lawlessness, that local leaders like Pritzker have refused to step in to quell, President Trump has exercised his lawful authority to protect federal officers and assets,” Jackson said. “President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities.”During his first term, despite nudging from allies, Trump ultimately did not invoke the Insurrection Act, which the White House said was a possibility in response to demonstrations stemming from the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020.Zoë RichardsZoë Richards is a politics reporter for NBC News.Katherine Doyle and Dareh Gregorian contributed.
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