Getty ImagesThe first “citizens’ jury” on assisted dying in England has backed a change in the law to allow people who are terminally ill to end their life.

BBCA Brighton mother with terminal cancer is calling on the government to “urgently” reform assisted dying laws.

A ban on junk food adverts being shown on TV before 21:00 will come into force on 1 October 2025, the government has confirmed.

In a new study, many people doubted or abandoned false beliefs after a short conversation with the DebunkBot.Shortly after generative artificial intelligence hit the mainstream, researchers warned that chatbots would create a dire problem: As disinformation became easier to create, conspiracy theories would spread rampantly.Now, researchers wonder if chatbots might also offer a solution.DebunkBot, an A.I. chatbot designed by researchers to “very effectively persuade” users to stop believing unfounded conspiracy theories, made significant and long-lasting progress at changing people’s convictions, according to a study published on Thursday in the journal Science.Indeed, false theories are believed by up to half of the American public and can have damaging consequences, like discouraging vaccinations or fueling discrimination.The new findings challenge the widely held belief that facts and logic cannot combat conspiracy theories. The DebunkBot, built on the technology that underlies ChatGPT, may offer a practical way to channel facts.“The work does overturn a lot of how we thought about conspiracies,” said Gordon Pennycook, a psychology professor at Cornell University and author of the study.Until now, conventional wisdom held that once someone fell down the conspiratorial rabbit hole, no amount of arguing or explaining would pull that person out.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Consumer Reports found lead in a variety of products, at a time when federal regulators are seeking authority from Congress to combat the problem of heavy metals in foods.One dozen of 36 cinnamon products tested by a consumer group contained elevated levels of lead, according to a study released on Thursday that reinforced concerns about metals in foods after tainted cinnamon applesauce poisoned dozens of children last year.The study, by Consumer Reports, documented levels that were far lower than the amounts discovered last year.The Consumer Reports team tested the spice and found high levels in lead in 12 items sold at discount stores and ethnic markets, with lead levels reaching 3.5 parts per million. New York, the only state with tough lead standards in spices, recalls spices — among them curry powder, chili powder, cumin and five-spice powder — with more than one part per million of lead. Consumer Reports advised that people throw out items with that amount.Badia, one common brand, sold cinnamon with one part per million of lead, according to the report. The company did not respond to a request for comment.While the levels in the cinnamon applesauce recalled last year were “astronomical,” those in the new report were still 1,000 times as high as the levels that concern lead-exposure experts who focus on children’s health, said Tomás R. Guilarte, a neuroscience and environmental health professor at Florida International University.“These are extremely high levels of lead,” he said. “Clearly they shouldn’t be used.”Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration urged a series of recalls of cinnamon products. The discoveries provided the impetus for consumer advocacy groups to generate greater public awareness of the dangers of lead and other metals, and for the agency to push Congress for tough limits on those heavy metals in food.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

New research suggests that dosage plays a role in a rare side effect of A.D.H.D. stimulants.Julianna McLeod, 26, had her first psychotic episode while taking Vyvanse for attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder last year.Ms. McLeod, who lives in Ontario, Canada, had taken the drug before but paused while pregnant with her first child and didn’t start taking it again until six months postpartum.Although the dose was 40 milligrams, she often forgot when she had last taken a pill. So she took one whenever she remembered — and may have ended up taking more than her prescribed daily dose.The delusions that she experienced made her feel euphoric and highly energetic.“I felt like my brain was exploding with connections,” she said. In her mind, she was a “super detective” who was uncovering the people and organizations that were secretly engaging in child sex trafficking.She even began to believe that someone was drugging her and her baby.Psychosis and mania are each known side effects of stimulant medications, and the Food and Drug Administration has added warnings to the medications’ labels saying that they may cause symptoms like hallucinations, delusional thinking or mania. But these side effects are considered rare — experienced by an estimated 1 in 1,000 patients — and have not been extensively researched. It can take months for someone to fully recover.A new study published on Thursday in The American Journal of Psychiatry suggests that dosage may play a role. It found that among people who took high doses of prescription amphetamines such as Vyvanse and Adderall, there was a fivefold increased risk of developing psychosis or mania for the first time compared with those who weren’t taking stimulants.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Americans are already turning to A.I. for health information in large numbers, new research suggests.Susan Sheridan had heard of ChatGPT but had never used it, so the first question she asked the artificial intelligence chatbot was a bit garbled: “Facial droop, facial pain and dental work.”She had turned to ChatGPT in a moment of desperation. The right side of her face was sagging, she tripped over words as she spoke and her head hurt so much that she couldn’t rest her head on the pillow.A day earlier, when her husband first noticed the drooping, the couple drove three hours to an emergency room, only for the doctor to send her home after labeling her symptoms as benign.ChatGPT disagreed. One potential explanation for her symptoms, the chatbot told her, was Bell’s palsy, which needed urgent treatment to avoid lasting damage.She made another trip to the emergency room, where a doctor confirmed the chatbot’s suspicions and gave her steroids and antivirals. As a result, she was mostly cured.“I don’t want to replace doctors — I believe in the doctor-patient relationship, I believe in the health care system,” said Ms. Sheridan, 64, co-founder of a patient safety advocacy organization.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Getty ImagesAcross more than 150 pages, NHS surgeon and independent peer Lord Darzi sets out in clear, painstaking detail the failings of the NHS in England.

The series is selling a fantasy. But straight women in their 60s and 70s say the dating scene is anything but rosy.When “The Golden Bachelorette” premieres next week, the latest reality TV spinoff in the long-running “Bachelor” franchise will once again be selling a fantasy.Joan Vassos, a charming 61-year-old school administrator and grandmother, will spend weeks in exotic locales sifting through two dozen eager suitors — each vying for her affection.In the real world, however, many women say dating in their golden years is reminiscent of another Hollywood franchise altogether.“I would describe it as the romantic, geriatric ‘Hunger Games’ from hell,” said Anne Vitiello, a 60-year-old single woman from New York.Ms. Vitiello’s recent dating history has certainly been full of challenges. Would-be scammers targeting older women are simply a fact of life on the dating apps, she said, as are the men who’ve made her feel like dating a woman in her 60s is an act of generosity.There was the somewhat cranky boyfriend who tried to push her buttons by asking when Ms. Vitiello thought Drew, her beloved Maine coon cat, was likely to die. And the longtime friend who hoped to become her lover — but neglected to mention he was still seeing his girlfriend.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

If Zachary Bradford does not receive a small bowel and liver transplant within the next few weeks, the tiny two-year-old could die.