Shawn Zeller, POLITICO Journalist Profile

Articles

Zuckerberg turns the tables on kids’ safety online

3 days ago | politico.com | Ruth Reader |Shawn Zeller

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, owner of Facebook and Instagram, is flooding Washington with ads lawmakers to require his rivals’ app stores to verify shoppers’ ages and require parental consent for kids to download social media apps. If he succeeds in making Google and Apple the focus of kids’ safety legislation, it will show how much headway he has made with his Republican skeptics in Congress, Ruth reports. How’s that?
Harvard takes a stand

1 week ago | politico.com | Erin Schumaker |Carmen Paun |Shawn Zeller

Harvard University’s refusal to comply with the Trump administration’s far-reaching demands for retaining billions in federal funding has set up what figures to be an epic court battle — and the outcome will have a big impact on health research. In the balance: academic freedom and the legality of President Donald Trump’s plan to use federal money as leverage to force universities to adopt his preferred policies on everything from campus discipline to admissions.
AI innovators want clarity on Medicare pay

1 week ago | politico.com | Shawn Zeller |Carmen Paun |Erin Schumaker

AdvaMed, the trade association for medical device makers, backs new legislation that aims to expedite Medicare reimbursement to providers who invest in artificial intelligence-powered tools.
Judge temporarily blocks Trump cuts to health research grants

2 months ago | politico.com | Shawn Zeller

The cuts would slice $4 billion from the budgets of universities and research organizations. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is among those who sued the National Institutes of Health to block cuts to health research funding. | Charles Krupa/AP A federal district court judge in Boston has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from reducing health research grants.
Judge temporarily blocks Trump cuts to health research grants

2 months ago | yahoo.com | Erin Schumaker |Shawn Zeller

A federal district court judge in Boston has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from reducing health research grants. Judge Angel Kelley issued a temporary restraining order barring the administration from imposing the cuts in 22 states that earlier in the day sued to block the reductions. The cuts, which the administration imposed today, are still in effect in other states.
Your AI Eye doctor

Jun 26, 2024 | politico.com | Toni Odejimi |Shawn Zeller |Daniel Payne |Ruth Reader |Erin Schumaker

Chat GPT scores a passing grade of 70 percent for analyzing eye images and answering eye health questions correctly, according to a study in JAMA Ophthalmology led by researchers at the University of Toronto. The chatbot, created by the San Francisco tech company OpenAI, answered 82 percent of multiple-choice questions correctly and 65 percent of the image analysis questions correctly.
Weight-loss drugs’ unpleasant side effects

May 28, 2024 | politico.com | Shawn Zeller |Carmen Paun |Daniel Payne |Ruth Reader |Erin Schumaker

Most Americans who start using the new class of weight-loss drugs, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, aren’t sticking with them. That’s according to a new study from the research arm of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association of health insurers. How so? Nearly 6 in 10 people who start the drugs quit before they reach a “clinically meaningful” health benefit.
Social media regulation advances

May 24, 2024 | politico.com | Shawn Zeller |Ruth Reader |Daniel Payne |Erin Schumaker

Legislation to regulate social media to protect kids’ mental health advanced in a House subcommittee on Thursday, adding new momentum to a measure backed by a Senate supermajority. The panel approved the Kids Online Safety Act by Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), Erin Houchin (R-Ind.) and Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) by voice vote, setting up consideration by the full Energy and Commerce Committee.
Colorado moves first on AI regulation

May 22, 2024 | politico.com | Shawn Zeller |Ruth Reader |Carmen Paun |Daniel Payne |Erin Schumaker

A new Colorado law regulating artificial intelligence “could open the floodgates to AI over-regulation across the nation,” or it simply represents “baseline accountability and transparency” for technology that makes critical decisions, including those involving patient care. Those were two of the reactions to Colorado Democratic Gov.
The VA's high hopes for psychedelics

May 10, 2024 | politico.com | Erin Schumaker |Shawn Zeller |Daniel Payne |Ruth Reader

Dr. Shereef Elnahal, the undersecretary for health at the Department of Veterans Affairs, found kindred spirits at a conference in New York today put on by the Horizons Center Public Benefit Corp., which promotes psychedelic drugs. How so? The VA announced in January that it would fund research into psychedelics like MDMA, also known as ecstasy, and psilocybin as potential treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.