The Digital Health Newsletter by Paul Sonnier
May 23, 2017
Greetings!
According to a new survey of teens and young adults age 14-24, their use of Instagram, Facebook, Snapchatand Twitter is increasing their feelings of inadequacy and anxiety. 
The poll showed additional negative impacts of the platforms include exacerbating body image worries, loneliness, depression, bullying, and sleep problems. Only YouTube had a net positive impact.

Unrelated (we assume), Ev Williams recently apologized for what he believes was Twitter's role in the election of President Donald Trump. The Twitter co-founder stated that this was "a very bad thing" and "the Internet is broken". What he apparently fails to realize, however, is that candidate Trump received $5.6 billion in free media coverage leading up to the presidential election . This amount exceeded the combined amount received by candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz, Paul Ryan, and Marco Rubio.  Below is a picture of the empty Trump podium CNN displayed while presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was giving a speech.
In other Twitter news, the company's algorithm is incorrectly guessing the gender of transgender users based on their profile and activity on the platform. People who have experienced the algorithm picking their sex assigned at birth—versus their actual gender identity—report feeling invalidated, hurt, and angry.  
Note: I’m seeking a direct role with a company or organization that would, ideally, complement and leverage all that I’ve built and am doing, including my keynote speaking, weekly newsletter, Digital Health LinkedIn group, and contributing editor role at Innovation & Tech Today. My professional bio is viewable here. Please contact me if you see a potential fit or would like to advertise in my announcements, newsletter, and website.
STAY CONNECTED!
Join over 56,000 members in the Digital Health group on LinkedIn
"Digital health is the convergence of the digital and genomic revolutions with health, healthcare, living, and society." - Paul Sonnier
REGULATION

A recent article on the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society's website mentioned a potential new Digital Health Unit at the FDA, but was unfortunately light on details. Now there's an authoritative and detailed piece in WIRED discussing Associate Center Director for Digital Health at FDA Bakul Patel's plans for a new digital health regulatory paradigm at the agency. 

IN OTHER NEWS
Avid runner Kelly Huron successfully fended off an attacker in a Seattle, WA bathroom while on a break during a recent run. She subsequently posted pics of her ordeal on Instagram, including a GPS-created map of her run. This use of social media can inspire other women to both speak out and take the kind of self-defense training Kelly received just weeks before the incident. 
Saying that the “issue was caused by a third-party battery”, Apple is refusing to compensate a customer whose headphones exploded and injured her. The AAA batteries are used in a discontinued model of the company's Beats product, which caught fire during a flight from Beijing to Melbourne. No word on whether the devices will be banned on airplanes.
GENOMICS
Issues around personal DNA/genomic data ownership and privacy can be  complicated. This was highlighted in a recent Twitter conversation I was involved in after I tweeted an article by Joel Winston, a former deputy attorney general for the State of New Jersey​ and currently working in a legal practice focused on consumer rights litigation, information privacy, and data protection law. In his piece "Ancestry.com takes DNA ownership rights from customers and their relatives", Winstone states that according to the company's 'Terms of Service and Privacy Policy' (a legal contract that users must sign), while you still own your DNA, so does Ancestry.com. Ancestry tweeted a reply to me (shown below along with Joel's reiteration of his point and question) and you can read the full response by the company's Chief Privacy Officer, Eric Heath, on the company's blog, here. I've also included a couple of other notable replies and conversations. In summary, it seems that while you may still own your DNA data, so does Ancestry, and they can use it (and sell it) pretty much however they want to until/unless you revoke that permission by canceling your service.  
Another reply—this one by Robert Furberg of RTI International, an independent, nonprofit research institute dedicated to improving the human condition—is more pointed...
John Wilbanks, of Sage Bionetworks, got in on the conversation...
I then asked John about an article he coauthored with Eric Topol in Nature that seems to contradict his stance...
GENOMICS & DRUG DEVELOPMENT
Amgen's new osteoporosis drug to prevent fractures of the vertebrae in postmenopausal women is being delayed due to a potential 30% increase in heart attacks. In 2012, t he company had acquired DeCode Genetics for $415 million in hopes that the genomic insights could "pressure test its drugs by looking at people who have genetic mutations related to the proteins the medicines target". While the technology was successful in identifying patients with sclerostin genetic mutations, had high bone density, and were therefore very fracture-resistant, it seems that there simply were not enough patients in the study to flag the potential for increased heart attack risk.
KEYNOTE SPEAKING & SERVICES

If you are a digital health company, event organizer, or provider of other relevant solutions or services you can advertise in my announcements, on my website, and I'll mention you on Twitter. Working with me puts you in front of tens of thousands of targeted global prospects each week. I also provide strategic consulting and keynote speaking services. Contact me for my media kit, standard plans, and pricing.

Copyright © 2017 Paul Sonnier, Story of Digital Health
   You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link at the bottom of every email