Daily Briefing for October 31, 2026

AI chatbots recommend care costing 3 times what physicians order The voices on this episode are generated, and so is the script, from the day's post at Physician in the Loop. Every fact in the post links to its source. Read the post and its sources Get the free email briefing Twenty general-purpose AI chatbots given 200 outpatient and emergency department notes recommended care costing an average of $314 per visit, more than three times the $97 the treating physicians ordered, a NEJM AI study found. Most of the gap came from tests the chatbots suggested at visits where physicians had ordered none, the authors reported. A separate Annals of Internal Medicine benchmark found six commercial models usually held back on low-value care but recommended thyroid ultrasound for incidental subcentimeter nodules in 42.8% of responses. In other news, Medline is removing or correcting all of its beds after reports of two deaths and 16 serious injuries, U.S. measles cases reached 4,852 for the year, STAT reported that Epic has used its market power against rival app makers, and the Food and Drug Administration approved the first plasmid DNA immunotherapy, for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis. In this episode AI chatbots recommend care costing 3.2 times what physicians ordered, mostly by adding tests at visits where doctors ordered none Medline pulls all its beds from the market after two deaths and 16 serious injuries from fire and entrapment U.S. measles cases reach 4,852 in 2026 as Pennsylvania tells clinicians to treat every newborn of an infected mother as exposed Twelve app makers tell STAT that Epic cut off data access, spread rumors or charged high fees to undercut them Congo's Ebola outbreak passes 10,000 confirmed cases, with nearly 5,000 deaths FDA approves Voceryq, the first plasmid DNA immunotherapy, for adults with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis