Listen: SVB’s long biotech shadow, pushy AI algorithms, & Icahn v. Illumina

Is AI dictating patient care? What happens when your bank falls apart? And can Illumina endure some shareholder activism?

We cover all that and more this week on the 250th episode of “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. STAT reporter Bob Herman joins us to explain how treatment algorithms powered by artificial intelligence are being used more frequently by Medicare Advantage plans to deny claims, even when continued treatment is medically justified. We’ll also discuss the latest news in the life sciences, including the continued fallout of the run on Silicon Valley Bank, the return of Carl Icahn, and a long-awaited pharmaceutical megadeal.

For more on what we cover, here’s the story on AI and Medicare Advantage; here’s the latest on SVB; here’s the news on Illumina; here’s more on Pfizer buying Seagen; here’s where you can find episodes of Color Code; and here’s where you can subscribe to the First Opinion Podcast.

Be sure to sign up on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And if you have any feedback for us — topics to cover, guests to invite, vocal tics to cease — you can email [email protected].