Sci-Tech

How Pet Care Became a Big Business

Published

1 week ago

June 23, 2024

Heather Massey brought Ladybird to the veterinarian when the 9-year-old mutt began having seizures. A scan from an M.R.I. machine revealed bad news: brain cancer.

With the prognosis grim, Ms. Massey decided against further treatment at the animal hospital near her home in Athens, Ga., and Ladybird died four months later. The M.R.I. scan and related care had cost nearly $2,000, which Ms. Massey put on a specialty credit card she had learned about at a previous vet visit.

That was in 2018. She is still paying off the debt, with more than 30 percent interest.

“Could I afford to do that? Not really,” said Ms. Massey, 52, who is disabled and does not work. “Was it worth it to me? Yes.”

Ms. Massey’s experience illustrates the expensive new realities of owning a pet. For decades, veterinarians typically operated their own clinics, shepherding generations of pets from birth to death. They neutered, vaccinated and pulled thorns from paws and noses. When animals became seriously ill, vets often had little to offer beyond condolences and a humane death.

But in recent years, as people have grown more attached to their pets — and more willing to spend money on them — animal medicine has transformed into a big business that looks a lot like its human counterpart. Many veterinary offices have been replaced by hospitals outfitted with expensive M.R.I. machines, sophisticated lab equipment and round-the-clock intensive care units. Dogs and cats often see highly trained specialists in neurology, cardiology and oncology.

This high-tech care has spurred a booming market. Veterinary prices have soared more than 60 percent over the past decade, according to federal statistics. Private equity firms and large corporations have bought hundreds of facilities around the country, an acquisition spree reminiscent of the corporate roll-ups of doctors’ offices.

Veterinarians from around the country told The New York Times that their corporate managers were pushing clinics to become more efficient profit centers. Vets were often paid based on how much money they brought in, creating an incentive to see more pets, order more tests and upsell wellness plans and food.

The result is an increasingly unsustainable situation for animal owners, most of whom don’t have pet insurance.

The Times asked readers to share their stories about expensive vet bills, and hundreds responded. Sophia McElroy of Denver said she donated blood plasma and took extra freelance work to pay for her dog’s ongoing expenses.

Nancy Partridge of Waynesville, N.C., said that months after her cat was diagnosed with an inoperable tumor, she was still chipping away at the $1,500 bill. “We have a dead cat, and we’re still paying,” she said.

In 2015, Claire Kirsch was earning less than $10 an hour as a veterinary technician in Georgia when her own dog, Roscoe, and her horse, Gambit, each had medical emergencies, resulting in bills that totaled more than $13,000. Ms. Kirsch said her animals would have died had she not opted for additional care.

“I knew I would never be able to forgive myself if we didn’t try,” she said.

Ms. Kirsch maxed out a credit card, tapped into her husband’s retirement account and took out a personal loan. Roscoe lived another three years, and Gambit is still alive.

In interviews, veterinarians said pet owners who complained about care costs don’t appreciate the difficulties of running a clinic. Veterinarians make far less money than human doctors and are often in debt from years of education. Their prices have gone up partly because of the rising cost of drugs, vaccines and other supplies, as well as paying workers in a tight labor market.

And because of more advanced medical offerings, pets today can survive serious illnesses, like cancer, that would once have been unthinkable. They have access to surgeries and drugs that can vastly improve their lives.

“We live in the most technologically advanced time in human history, and how wonderful is that?” said Dr. Tracy Dewhirst, a veterinarian in Corryton, Tenn. “But it comes at a cost.”

Even run-of-the-mill visits can rack up big bills. Dr. David Roos, an 86-year-old veterinarian in Los Altos, Calif., said he decided to retire one day in 2014, when he checked on a dog whose owners were longtime clients. The animal had been admitted for vomiting. Dr. Roos said he normally would have told the owner to take the dog home and to give it sips of water. Instead, another vet had ordered X-rays, blood tests, intravenous fluids and a hospital stay. Dr. Roos knew the owners could not afford the bill.

“I realized at that stage that veterinary medicine had changed to the point where I no longer wanted to be a part of it,” Dr. Roos said.

With a growth in pet ownership and surveys showing that Americans are willing to go into debt to pay for their animals’ care, vet clinics have become increasingly attractive to investors. About one-quarter of primary care clinics and three-quarters of specialty clinics are now owned by corporations, according to Brakke Consulting, which focuses on the animal health industry.

In 2015, one major player, Mars — known for selling candy and pet food — acquired a specialty veterinary hospital chain, BluePearl, for an undisclosed sum. In 2017, it nabbed another hospital, VCA, for $9.1 billion. The trend peaked in 2021, with more than 200 private equity deals, according to Pitchbook.

Several veterinarians who have worked in corporate practices said that they were pressured to drive more business. One vet from California said she quit her job after she was told her “cost per client” was too low. Another, from Virginia, said she was told she needed to see 21 animals per day. A third, from Colorado, said she was taken aback when she overheard a manager saying some of the vets at her office needed coaching on “getting the client to a yes.” These vets asked to withhold their names because they worried that speaking out could jeopardize future job prospects with private-equity practices.

Other vets said that corporate ownership had no influence on the care they provided. Still, Dr. Andrew Federer, the medical director of a clinic in Mentor, Ohio, that is owned by a chain called National Veterinary Associates, said that when someone’s pay is tied to how many procedures and tests they perform, the incentives could be difficult to ignore, especially for vets who were just starting out.

“The more they bring into the hospital above their current salary, the more of a production bonus they will receive,” he said.

Only about 4 percent of pet owners have insurance, and even for them, the options are limited. Pet insurance often excludes pre-existing conditions and costs more for older pets who are more likely to get sick.

Companies can also change the terms. This spring, the insurance company Nationwide notified thousands of pet owners that it was discontinuing their coverage, leaving them scrambling to enroll in new plans that excluded the pets’ pre-existing conditions. About 100,000 plans are being discontinued, said Kevin Kemper, a Nationwide spokesman.

Stephanie Boerger of Royal Oak, Mich., said that Nationwide had been covering her cat’s chemotherapy, but told her it would not renew her plan when it expired in August. The treatment, which costs about $1,000 every other month, will not be covered under any available plan.

“Now I feel like I have to choose between paying for my cat’s chemo or letting her die,” said Ms. Boerger, who was able to find new coverage through a competing company.

In a statement, the Nationwide spokesman cited the rising cost of veterinary care. “We are making these tough decisions now so that we can continue to be here for even more pets in the future,” he said.

Many veterinarians offer specialty credit cards sold by outside companies, such as the CareCredit card that was used by Ms. Kirsch and Ms. Massey. Last year, the Biden administration warned that these medical credit cards — which were also promoted by doctors and dentists — drove many consumers into debilitating debt. A spokeswoman for CareCredit said that about 80 percent of cardholders paid off their debt before the no-interest introductory period expired.

Some groups, including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, are researching how vets can perform common procedures more cheaply. And many veterinarians say they try to offer a “spectrum of care,” a nonjudgmental way of discussing less expensive options.

For many people, a pet’s companionship is priceless.

After Ladybird died, Ms. Massey adopted Lunabear, a Lab mix that she jokes is “allergic to the very air we breathe.” Lunabear needs prescription food that costs $6 a can and takes a $3 allergy pill three times a day. Last year, she had leg surgery.

These costs have totaled nearly $4,000, much of which has been charged to the high-interest credit card. But Ms. Massey, who has major depression and lives alone, said her dogs took top priority. “I pay my bills, and then I buy food,” she said.

Ben Casselman contributed reporting.

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Sci-Tech

8 cool ways to use LiDAR on your iPhone and iPad

Published

1 hour ago

July 2, 2024

Lance Whitney

Use augmented reality on your iPhone or iPad — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

Your iPhone Pro and iPad Pro may have a helpful and powerful feature you might not know about. Built directly into the last few generations of devices, the Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scanner emits a laser to measure the distances of surrounding objects. This feature provides a few key benefits.

Also: How to use split-screen on iPad (and why you should)

First, LiDAR helps the camera take sharper photos, particularly in dark conditions. Second, the scanner taps into AR, or augmented reality, to combine the real and virtual worlds. With AR, your phone or tablet acts as a virtual tape measure, shows you how new furniture would look in your home, scans and recreates 3D models, and immerses you in AR games.

Introduced a few years ago, the LiDAR scanner is available on the Pro and Pro Max models of the iPhone 12, 13, 14, and 15, as well as the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models from 2020 and later. Nestled among the rear cameras, the scanner can detect objects up to five meters, or 16.5 inches.

1. Take a photo in the dark

Snapping a sharp photo with your iPhone can be challenging, especially in low-light situations. Under those conditions, the LiDAR scanner detects the distance of your subject, allowing your camera to power up the autofocus quickly.

Also: How to take better iPhone photos

Apple claims that the LiDAR sensor helps the camera autofocus as much as six times faster, an advantage when you want to take a shot before it’s too late. There’s no need to do anything special. Aim your phone’s camera and the LiDAR automatically kicks in if necessary.

Take a photo in the dark — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

2. Measure distances

You need to measure a physical distance but don’t have a ruler or tape measure. There’s no need to worry when you can use a virtual measure. Included with iOS/iPadOS and downloadable from the App Store, Apple’s free Measure app can determine the distance between any two points, display the dimensions of an object, and tell you if a surface is straight.

Open the Measure app on your device. Then to measure the distance between two points, position your phone so the starting point is at the dot within the circle.

Also: The 4 best iPad models right now

Tap the plus icon, move your phone along the area you want to measure, and then tap the plus icon again. The distance appears on the screen.

Measure a line — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

To measure an object such as a square, you position your phone in the same way. Tap the plus icon and move your phone along the first area to measure it. Then double tap the plus icon. Move your phone to capture the next area and, once again, double-tap the plus icon. Continue this way until you’ve captured the entire object. Double-tap the plus icon at the endpoint, and the distance appears for all four sides.

Measure a square — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

To determine if an area is level, tap the Level icon in the app’s toolbar. Tilt your device horizontally or vertically along a surface until the screen turns to 0 and flashes green to indicate that you’re level.

Check a level area — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

Beyond using Apple’s Measure app, check out other free AR measuring apps from the App Store, including Tape Measure and AR Measure.

3. Try out furniture in your home

Are you looking at a new desk, chair, table, or other piece of furniture and wondering how it would look and fit in your home? Let the IKEA app give you a helping hand.

Start by browsing or searching for a specific piece of furniture or other item, including chairs, beds, desks, sofas, lamps, mirrors, clocks, dressers, or bookcases. When you find an item that interests you, select it and tap the View in room button. Choose an area in your home where you’d like to see the item. You can then move the item around the room by dragging and dropping it. When it’s in the right spot, tap the shutter button to snap a picture.

Try out furniture in your home — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

A few other apps that let you virtually position and view furniture in your home are Wayfair, Housecraft, and Bob’s Discount Furniture.

4. Scan a room

Maybe you’re redecorating an entire room and want to measure it to help with your home improvement efforts. One app up to the task is Canvas: LiDAR 3D Measurements.

After signing up for a free account, start a new home project, give it a name, and then kick off your scan. Move your phone to capture every nook and cranny of the room you want to measure. When done scanning, tap the checkmark, and you can view the scanned area and save or share the scan itself.

Scan a room — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

5. Try on glasses

Need a new pair of prescription glasses or sunglasses but want to check out some options before you head to the store? The Warby Parker app will let you try on virtual glasses to see how they look. Browse the different glasses on display in the app. Spot a pair you like and swipe down from the top of the screen for the Virtual Try-On feature. The glasses automatically appear on your face, where you can check your appearance.

6. Hear your environment described

Designed for people who are blind or sight-impaired, Microsoft’s Seeing AI acts as a talking camera able to analyze and describe nearby people and objects.

Also: The best iPhone models you can buy right now (including the iPhone 15)

After launching the app, tap one of the icons at the bottom for the item you want to be described, choosing from short text, a document, a product, a person, currency, or a scene. Tap the shutter button and the app shows text and provides a spoken description of the item.

Hear your environment described — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

7. Scan a 3D model

If you want to capture a 3D image of an object in the real world, Scaniverse – 3D Scanner is an effective tool. Fire up the app, tap the shutter button, and then select the size of the object you want to scan — small, medium, or large. Move your phone around the object to capture as much of it as possible. Tap the shutter button when you’re finished. Ten choose how you want to process the scan. You can view the scan of the object by moving it around the screen and then edit and share the scan.

Other 3D AR scanner apps worth trying include 3D Scanner App, Polycam – LiDAR & 3D Scanner, and ARama!

8. Play a game

Finally, many AR games are available for the iPhone and iPad. Here are just a few you may want to check out.

Also: Meet Apple’s Vision Pro: Price, features, hands-on insights, and everything you need to know

Angry Birds AR: Isle of Pigs offers a twist on Angry Birds-style gameplay by letting you overlay a virtual island of piggies in the real world and aim your slingshot to take down their buildings.

Play Angry Birds AR: Isle of Pigs — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

ARia’s Legacy – AR Escape Room offers a variation of the usual escape room scenario by overlaying a virtual room in a real room. You must discover and use the right virtual objects to solve the underlying mystery.

Play ARia's Legacy - AR Escape Room — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

Who doesn’t like to watch robots duking it out? With AR Robot, virtual robots fight to the death in your home.

Choose the room, pick your mechanical champion, and let the match begin. Strive toward victory by building and customizing your bot and tapping into the right abilities in the heat of the battle.

Play AR Robot — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

In Defend It! AR, you shoot a horde of robots before they take over your living room. But the AR element here is that the robots burst through your wall as you struggle to get them before they steal your magic crystal of power.

Play Defend It! AR — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

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Sci-Tech

My Doctor Misdiagnosed My Diabetes — and I’m Not Alone. What You Need to Know

Published

10 hours ago

July 1, 2024

Justin Eastzer

For the longest time, type 1 diabetes was known as a childhood disease. Even until recently, it was still called “juvenile diabetes.” I’m here to tell you that just because you’re an adult doesn’t mean you’ve escaped the wrath of this illness.

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I know this because it happened to me. At the age of 30, I was misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes for over six months. It wasn’t until I started sharing my diagnosis on TikTok that I discovered the truth and that this could happen to someone my age.

Roughly 60% of diagnoses today occur in adults who are 20 years of age or older. This form of type 1 diabetes is called Latent Autoimmune Diabetes of Adults. On top of that, 90% of those diagnosed with type 1 have no family history.

Rates for people living with diabetes are expected to more than double to 1.3 billion by 2050. This will impact both people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Spreading awareness about symptoms and early screening for type 1 diabetes will help people get the correct diagnosis and treatment they need sooner.

lancet-type-2-diabetes-projection-2050 — Research published in The Lancet projects a steady increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in coming years.

The Lancet

There is a lack of awareness about diabetes, even within the medical community. Because of this, many people go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes for months or even years. Here’s what you need to know.

The difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas no longer produces insulin, the hormone that regulates blood glucose, because the immune system attacks itself. Meanwhile, type 2 diabetes occurs due to insulin resistance, often due to lifestyle factors, and tends to be hereditary. As many as 11% of patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes might actually have LADA. There are a couple things we can all do to prevent others from going undiagnosed and feeling ill for as long as I did.

The first is to know the signs of type 1 diabetes. The tell-tale symptoms are excessive thirst and urination, extreme feeling of fatigue, blurred vision and weight loss. When I was diagnosed, I was experiencing all of these symptoms and had lost over 20 pounds. After months of misdiagnosis, I saw an endocrinologist who ordered blood tests, and within weeks, I had the correct type 1 diagnosis.

Had my glucose levels gone unchecked for longer, I could have gone into diabetic ketoacidosis or DKA, which can be deadly. Up to 30% of those diagnosed in the US are discovered at this stage.

Another way we can prevent loss of life or sickness is with early screening for indicators of type 1 diabetes. Two blood tests are used to aid in diagnosis: A c-peptide test, which measures how much insulin a person is making themselves, and an islet autoantibody test, which screens for markers of the autoimmune process associated with type 1 diabetes. With these results, people can prepare and seek out treatment to offset the disease and/or treat it.

New legislation could help

Recent legislation aims to bring early screening for type 1 diabetes to the forefront of preventative care.

Last month, a bipartisan bill called the Strengthening Collective Resources for Encouraging Education Needed for Type 1 Diabetes Act was introduced in the House of Representatives. The bill directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct a national campaign to increase awareness and knowledge of type 1 detection, screening and management, and will allocate $5 million to the CDC to carry it out.

On my end, I will continue to share my story through articles like this one, videos on social media and interviews on my podcast, Diabetech. My hope is that no one will experience the long stretch of illness I experienced before getting the correct diagnosis and treatment needed.

Diabetes is a complex and complicated disease to manage. Devices like insulin pumps, smart insulin pens and continuous glucose monitors make living with the disease easier to manage, but they come with a steep learning curve.

I’m fortunate to be able to interview experts in the field on my podcast who help me and my audience stay informed on the latest tools and technology. I encourage anyone living with this disease to connect with me on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok to feel less alone and more in charge of your personal health.

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Sci-Tech

Midjourney is creating Donald Trump pictures when asked for images of ‘the president of the United States’

Published

11 hours ago

July 1, 2024

Pranav Dixit

Midjourney, a popular AI-powered image generator, is creating images of Donald Trump and Joe Biden despite saying that it would block users from doing so ahead of the upcoming US presidential election.

When Engadget prompted the service to create an image of “the president of the United States,” Midjourney generated four images in various styles of former president Donald Trump.

Midjourney created an image of Trump despite saying it wouldn't. — Midjourney

When asked to create an image of “the next president of the United States,” the tool generated four images of Trump as well.

Midjourney generated Donald Trump images despite saying it wouldn't. — Midjourney

When Engadget prompted Midjourney to create an image of “the current president of the United States,” the service generated three images of Trump and one image of former president Barack Obama.

Midjourney also created an image of former President Obama — Midjourney

The only time Midjourney refused to create an image of Trump or Biden was when it was asked to do so explicitly. “The Midjourney community voted to prevent using ‘Donald Trump’ and ‘Joe Biden’ during election season,” the service said in that instance. Other users on X were able to get Midjourney to generate Trump’s images too.

The tests show that Midjourney’s guardrails to prevent users from generating images of Trump and Biden ahead of the upcoming US presidential election aren’t enough — in fact, it’s really easy for people to get around them. Other chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot, Google’s Gemini and Meta AI did not create images of Trump or Biden despite multiple prompts.

Midjourney did not respond to a request for comment from Engadget.

Midjourney was one the first AI-powered image generators to explicitly ban users from generating images of Trump and Biden. “I know it’s fun to make Trump pictures — I make Trump pictures,” the company’s CEO, David Holz, told users in a chat session on Discord, earlier this year. “However, probably better to just not — better to pull out a little bit during this election. We’ll see.” A month later, Holz reportedly told users that it was time to “put some foots down on election-related stuff for a bit” and admitted that “this moderation stuff is kind of hard.” The company’s existing content rules prohibit the creation of “misleading public figures” and “events portrayals” with the “potential to mislead.”

Last year, Midjourney was used to create a fake image of Pope Benedict wearing a puffy white Balenciaga jacket that went viral. It was also used to create fake images of Trump being arrested ahead of his arraignment at the Manhattan Criminal Court last year for his involvement in a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Shortly afterwards, the company halted free trials of the service and, instead, required people to pay at least $10 a month to use it.

Last month, the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a non-profit organization that aims to stop the spread of misinformation and hate speech online, found that Midjourney’s guardrails against generating misleading images of popular politicians including Trump and Biden failed 40% of its tests. The CCDH was able to use Midjourney to create an image of president Biden being arrested and Trump appearing next to a body double. The CCDH was also able to bypass Midjourney’s guardrails by using descriptions of each candidate’s physical appearance rather than their names to generate misleading images.

“Midjourney is far too easy to manipulate in practice – in some cases it’s completely evaded just by adding punctuation to slip through the net,” wrote CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed in a statement at the time. “Bad actors who want to subvert elections and sow division, confusion and chaos will have a field day, to the detriment of everyone who relies on healthy, functioning democracies.

Earlier this year, a coalition of 20 tech companies including OpenAI, Google, Meta, Amazon, Adobe and X signed an agreement to help prevent deepfakes in elections taking place in 2024 around the world by preventing their services from generating images and other media that would influence voters. Midjourney was absent from that list.

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