Whole-Body Imaging Launch Fuels Billion-Dollar Debate Over Personal Health Data
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 29
Whole-Body Imaging Launch Fuels Billion-Dollar Debate Over Personal Health Data
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 29
Summary
A new whole-body imaging product from a San Francisco startup has triggered a fresh debate over whether more personal health data actually helps patients.
David Wallace-Wells and primary care doctor Rachael Bedard frame the dispute as a clash between wary physicians, who say extra data can cause harm, and tech advocates, who argue more information should improve decisions and research.
Billions of dollars already have gone into Americans tracking steps, blood oxygen, sleep and glucose, yet the discussion asks whether those streams of individual data are making people healthier.
The conversation also looks beyond current devices to whether artificial intelligence could eventually turn sprawling personal health data into something more useful for patients and doctors.