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CHICAGO — OpenAI this week introduced ChatGPT Health, “a dedicated experience in ChatGPT designed for health and wellness,” as a response to the more than 40 million people who ask ChatGPT a health care-related question every day, the company said.

Northwestern University AI-in-clinical-medicine expert Dr. David Liebovitz can speak to media about the pros and cons of the new platform, including how it is “a significant step forward from patients showing up with Google searches” but also how “patients must understand that health data shared with ChatGPT is not protected by HIPAA,” unlike in conversations with physicians or therapists. He also can speak to what true democratization of health AI looks like, and what Northwestern University research is driving to make these advances practical for patients.

Contact Kristin Samuelson at ksamuelson@northwestern.edu to schedule an interview. 

Liebovitz is the co-director of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine’s Center for Medical Education in Data Science and Digital Health at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He has been teaching clinical informatics for several decades, incorporating new methods for education and applications of AI within clinical patient care. Liebovitz has been a chief medical information officer at two organizations where he actively implemented AI in clinical medicine.

On the opportunity:

Liebovitz: “The 21st Century Cures Act now requires health care systems to provide patients complete access to their medical records through standardized application programming interfaces (APIs) that electronic health record vendors like Epic are now required to provide. AI tools like ChatGPT Health can help patients make sense of that data. For essentially zero incremental cost, a patient can get help understanding lab results, preparing questions for appointments and identifying gaps in their care that might otherwise be missed.”

‘A significant step forward’

“More than 25 years after the Institute of Medicine report ‘To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System’ documented tens of thousands of preventable deaths from diagnostic errors and care gaps, we still haven’t solved this problem. AI assistants that can review a patient’s full history and flag potential concerns represent a significant step forward from patients showing up with Google searches. These tools synthesize information in context rather than generating alarm from isolated symptoms.”

On concerns:

“Patients should understand that health data shared with ChatGPT is not protected by HIPAA. Unlike conversations with physicians or therapists, there’s no legal privilege. This data could potentially be subpoenaed in litigation or accessed through other legal processes. For sensitive health matters, particularly reproductive or mental health concerns, that’s a real consideration.”

On the bigger picture:

“The question isn’t whether patients will use AI for health information, 40 million people already ask ChatGPT health questions daily. The question is whether we can help them do so more effectively and safely, with appropriate guardrails and realistic expectations about what these tools can and cannot do.”

On local/on-device models:

“There’s an alternative approach that sidesteps the privacy concerns entirely: running AI models locally on a patient’s own device. Modern smartphones now have sufficient processing power to run capable language models without any data ever leaving the phone. No cloud storage, no corporate servers, no subpoena risk.”

On the technical trajectory:

“On-device AI capabilities, which run AI directly on local hardware such as phones and wearables instead of sending data to the cloud, are advancing rapidly. Apple’s own approach with Apple Intelligence validates that sophisticated AI can run locally. Open-source models optimized for mobile hardware are improving month over month. Within a year or two, a patient could have a highly capable health assistant running entirely on their phone, analyzing their downloaded medical records with complete privacy.”

On the democratization angle:

“Here is what true democratization of health AI looks like: A patient downloads their records using the APIs health care systems are now required to provide, runs them through an AI model on their own phone and gets personalized insights without their data ever touching a third-party server. No subscription fees, no privacy tradeoffs, no dependence on any company’s policies or terms of service.”

On what Northwestern is exploring:

“Our research group is actively exploring how to make this practical for the public. The technical pieces are falling into place: access to standardized health records, powerful mobile hardware and increasingly capable open-source models. The goal is giving everyone access to meaningful second opinions on their health data while keeping that data entirely under their control.”

Takeaways

• The DOL stated in a 01.05.26 opinion letter that if an employee is scheduled to use less than a full workweek of FMLA leave, the time when the employer (a school) is closed for inclement weather will not be deducted from the employee’s FMLA entitlement unless the employee was expected to work during the school closure. 
• Conversely, however, the opinion letter states if an employee is scheduled to take a full workweek of FMLA during a week when the school is closed for part of the week, the entire week is counted against an employee’s FMLA entitlement. 
• The DOL announced in June 2025 that it would launch an expanded opinion letter program.

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The Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division issued an opinion letter on Jan. 5, 2026, analyzing how a school closure of less than one full week affects the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitlement of an employee on scheduled FMLA leave. The DOL analyzed key differences between calculation of FMLA leave entitlement when the leave is scheduled for less than a full workweek versus a full workweek. The opinion letter was in response to an inquiry on the calculation of an employee’s leave entitlement when a school closes for less than a full week due to inclement weather.

DOL Analysis

In its analysis, the DOL confirmed an established principle that leave entitlement may not be reduced “beyond the amount of leave actually taken” when the leave is taken on an intermittent or reduced schedule basis. Further, the DOL clarified leave taken for less than a full workweek is considered a “proportion of the employee’s actual workweek.”

Holidays, the DOL then explained, do not count against FMLA leave entitlement if the employee is scheduled for FMLA leave of less than a full workweek and is not otherwise expected to work on the holiday. On the other hand, however, the DOL stated the holiday will count against an employee’s FMLA leave entitlement if it falls during a week in which the employee was scheduled to take a full workweek of leave.

Based upon these principles, the DOL opined that if an employee is scheduled to take FMLA leave for less than a full workweek, the school is closed for at least one day during that workweek due to inclement weather, and the employee was not otherwise expected to work during the closure, the employee’s leave entitlement should not be reduced by the number of days the school was closed.

As an example, the DOL explained, if an employee was scheduled to take FMLA for physical therapy on Tuesday afternoon, but the school was closed on Tuesday due to inclement weather, the employee’s FMLA leave entitlement will not be reduced for the period of time the school was closed.

If an employee was scheduled to take FMLA for a full workweek and the school was closed for at least one day during that workweek, the DOL explained the employee’s FMLA leave entitlement would still be reduced for the entire workweek despite the school closure during the week.

Planned Closure; Makeup

Finally, whether a closure is planned or unplanned and the reasons for any closure are immaterial to this analysis, the DOL noted. Similarly, the DOL opined that whether an employer requires an employee to report on a “makeup” day on a later date does not affect the analysis.

* * *

The DOL announced in June 2025 that it would launch an expanded opinion letter program, consistent with the agency’s renewed focus on compliance assistance.

Reach out to your Jackson Lewis attorney with any questions about complying with the laws enforced by the DOL (such as the FMLA and the Fair Labor Standards Act) or for assistance in preparing an opinion letter request.

A Toronto-based renewable energy company says it sees a lot of potential in Nova Scotia’s initiative to incentivize the construction of community “solar gardens.”

PowerBank, which specializes in solar energy and battery storage systems, has had one project approved in Nova Scotia and proposed two others under the province’s community solar program.

The program, which launched in 2024, helps community groups and organizations set up large fields of solar panels, known as solar gardens, to sell subscriptions for the clean electricity they produce.

“We like this program because I think it’s a win-win for all the parties,” said Tracy Zheng, chief commercial officer for PowerBank.

PowerBank’s solar projects will help Nova Scotia meet its goal of producing 80 per cent of its electricity through renewable energy, Zheng said, while also reducing power bills for customers who subscribe.

The provincial program allows the power generated from the solar gardens to be fed into the Nova Scotia Power grid.

Customers can sign up to receive power from a solar garden without paying an additional fee or physically being connected to the source.

The company says subscribers will save two cents per kilowatt hour on their electricity bill or 10 to 15 per cent.

Potential benefits for communities

PowerBank is expected to start construction on a 4.8-megawatt project in Brooklyn, Annapolis County, in the spring, which it says will power up to 630 homes a year.

Two smaller projects are proposed near Antigonish and Bridgetown.

The project near Bridgetown is still going through the approval process. It must get letters of support from municipal governments where the projects are proposed.

“When the opportunity arose through public consultation as well as a presentation to our council, we were very receptive to it,” said Dustin Enslow, deputy warden for the Municipality of Annapolis County.

Zheng made a presentation about the project to the municipality in November. She said it would power up to 250 homes in the surrounding area.

The company also held two public consultations meetings in the area last summer.

Enslow said the municipality sees several benefits from a project like this.

“This particular organization and particular project works quite well because it actually aligns with the joint climate change action plans we have between us — Annapolis Royal and the Town of Middleton,” Enslow said.

He said the municipality also finds PowerBank’s promise to use local contractors to build and maintain the solar garden over the 25-year contract very encouraging.

Stabilizes power source

In addition to reducing power bills, Enslow said an additional energy source in the community will provide more stability for residents.

“We have a very unique power grid here where we actually steal from neighbouring municipalities,” he said.

The municipality gets its power from Yarmouth, Bridgewater and other parts of the Annapolis Valley, Enslow said, and power outages are a common problem.

The municipality’s support of the PowerBank’s proposed solar project is conditional, but council sees a lot of potential in it, Enslow said.

“This is just one way that our municipality can continue to thrive and move forward in a positive direction.”

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Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Friday on profit taking, but posted a weekly gain on strength in rival edible oils on the Dalian and Chicago exchanges and Indonesia’s plan to raise its palm oil export levy.

The benchmark palm oil contract FCPO1! for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 5 ringgit, or 0.12%, to 4,038 ringgit ($992.14) a metric ton at closing.

The contract gained 1.18% for the week.

“Lots of profit-taking activities going on (today) after the sudden rally on Indonesia levy increase rumours. The profit taking starts after Dalian close firm drawing a selloff at the high of the week,” said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader.

Indonesia will likely increase its palm oil export levy to support the country’s biodiesel mandate, energy ministry official Eniya Listiani Dewi told reporters, citing tightening funds.

Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract (DBYcv1) rose 0.33%, while its palm oil contract CPO1! was up 0.6%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade (BOc2) gained 0.51%.

Palm oil tracks the price movements of rival edible oils, as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market.

Palm oil FCPO1! is biased to retest support at 4,024 ringgit per metric ton, as it failed to break resistance at 4,074 ringgit, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.
Source: Reuters