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Takata agrees to a deal with the feds.
Continue reading Takata pleads guilty and will pay $1-billion fine in airbag scandal
Takata pleads guilty and will pay $1-billion fine in airbag scandal originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 13 Jan 2017 14:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Government/Legal,Green,Transportation Alternatives,Emerging Technologies,Technology,Autonomous
New research recommends truly driverless, highly autonomous cars.
Continue reading Self-driving cars could be a boon for Americans with disabilities
Self-driving cars could be a boon for Americans with disabilities originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 Jan 2017 10:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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In a bid to save you precious mobile data, Google has developed a technique that improves image quality without taking up more bandwidth. Entitled RASIR (Rapid and Accurate Super Image Resolution) this impressive software quickly reads large photos and manages to replicate them using a quarter of the pixels.
RASIR achieves this by analyzing both low and high-quality versions of the same image. As it reads the image, it learns from the superior version and applies filters to its low-res counterpart that simulate extra detail, creating a convincing data-friendly replica of the original high-res photo.
Unfortunately for the majority of smartphone users, the bespoke tech is currently only available on Google+. The company has rolled out the tech to a subset of Android devices, and claims to be upscaling over a billion images per week. Impressively, Google states that thanks to RASIR, it has used 75% less bandwidth per image its upscaled.
For those not interested in Google+, Google aims to expand its use of the tech more broadly across its many apps and services over the coming weeks and months.
Source: Google Blog
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Pharmaceutical giant CVS announced Thursday that it has partnered with Impax Laboratories to sell a generic epinephrine auto-injector for $109.99 for a two-pack—a dramatic cut from Mylan’s Epipen two-pack prices, which list for more than $600 as a brand name and $300 as a generic.
The lower-cost auto-injector, a generic form of Adrenaclick, is available starting today nationwide in the company’s more than 9,600 pharmacies. Its price resembles that of EpiPen’s before Mylan bought the rights to the life-saving devices back in 2007 and raised the price repeatedly, sparking outcry.
Helena Foulkes, President of CVS Pharmacy, said the company felt compelled to respond to the urgent need for a more affordable alternative. “Over the past year, nearly 150,000 people signed on to a petition asking for a lower-cost epinephrine auto-injector option and millions more were active in social media searching for a solution,†she said in a statement.
The price of $109.99 for the alternative applies to those with and without insurance, CVS noted. And Impax is also offering a coupon to reduce the cost to just $9.99 for qualifying patients.
Also in the press statement, Dr. Todd Listwa of Novant Health, a network of healthcare providers, noted the importance of access to epinephrine auto-injectors, which swiftly reverse rapid-onset, deadly allergic reactions in some. “For these patients, having access to emergency epinephrine is a necessity. Making an affordable epinephrine auto-injector device accessible to patients will ensure patients have the medicine they need, when they need it.”
Last year, Mylan came under heavy fire from the public and lawmakers for the soaring cost of its devices, as well as allegedly cheating Medicaid out of millions and using anti-competitive practices to set up deals with school systems.
Mylan has claimed that most patients don’t pay the list price, due to insurance coverage and manufacturer coupons. They blamed the price increases on the complexities of the healthcare system and middlemen, including pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs), such as CVS’ Caremark. In general, PBMs negotiate prices and rebates of drugs with manufacturers.
As USA Today pointed out, CVS potentially has a lot to gain from a partnership with Impax and currying favor with the public with the cheaper device. In recent financial documents, the company noted that it is under intense pressure from competition, including Walgreens and mail-order pharmacies. A better public image and a powerful partnership could provide CVS with more customers and bargaining power.
Meanwhile, backlash to Mylan’s price hikes continue. This week, Cigna, a top health insurance company, said that it will no longer cover Mylan’s brand name EpiPen—it will only cover the generic, which was rolled out in December.
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The Environmental Protection Agency has accused Fiat Chrysler of diesel-emissions violations, saying the auto maker allegedly used software on recent diesel-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Ram trucks.
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Lawyers and ethicists say from transparency to debts, the plan Trump revealed today solves nothing. Oh, and blind trusts actually have to be blind. The post Trump’s Plan to Avoid Conflicts of Interest Won’t Avoid a Thing appeared first on WIRED.
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Chrome: Amazon may be convenient, but nothing beats free. So, when you’re shopping for books on the site, Library Extension will find those same books at your local library. You can even drive to pick them up faster than Amazon can ship them.
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