Three things for October 6
1. Facebook whistleblower testifies
On Tuesday, Frances Haugen testified to the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection.
“She accused the company of failing to make changes to Instagram after internal research showed apparent harm to some teens and being dishonest in its public fight against hate and misinformation,” reports AP News.
Haugen came forward with pressing concerns alleging Facebook amplifies hate, misinformation and political unrest, but the company hides what it knows. She copied thousands of pages of documented research before leaving her job in the company’s civic integrity unit.
Haugen is taking action under the belief Facebook’s products harm children.
“The company’s leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer but won’t make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people,” she says in her written testimony prepared for the hearing. “Congressional action is needed. They won’t solve this crisis without your help,” reported the Associated Press.
2. Employees warned pharmacy chains they needed more safeguards for prescription opioids
“Internal documents cited during the opening session of a landmark opioid trial in Cleveland, Ohio suggest the nation’s biggest pharmacy chains were warned by employees about their dispensing of highly addictive pain pills,” reported NPR.
A separate communication from a CVS employee warned the company’s safeguards, designed to reduce prescription opioid abuse, are allegedly inadequate. This is the latest opioid trial to test the liability of corporate America for an opioid crisis that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.
The documents suggest that Walgreens employees do not verify order legitimacy when dispensing pain medications.
“Walgreens is not verifying the legitimacy of suspicious orders, which could lead to the fulfillment of an illicit order,” said one Walgreens memo cited by Lanier.
The venue of this trial is significant, as Ohio has one of the highest overdose death rates in the nation. This trial, which will focus primarily on dispensing millions of pain killers around Cleveland, will be a legal test that determines to what degree pharmaceutical companies are held accountable.
“I may have been naïve to believe we were doing everything we could to reduce the growth of this tragic problem in the U.S.,” a CVS document cited by Lanier stated.
3. 2,700-year-old toilet found in Jerusalem was a rare luxury
Israeli archaeologists have found a rare ancient toilet in Jerusalem dating back more than 2,700 years, authorities said Tuesday.
“The Israeli Antiquities Authority said the smooth, carved limestone toilet was found in a rectangular cabin that was part of a sprawling mansion overlooking what is now the Old City. It was designed for comfortable sitting, with a deep septic tank dug underneath,” reported the Associated Press.
The toilet dates back to when private toilets were a luxury.
“A private toilet cubicle was very rare in antiquity, and only a few were found to date,” said Yaakov Billig, the director of the excavation for the Israeli Antiquities Authority, reported Associated Press.
