Health: 1)Meta faces nearly $1B bill after court ruling tied to youth mental health harms; 2)Dermatologists desperately want gen Z to stop ‘tanmaxxing’ — but are their warnings effective?; 3)Delirium is often missed by health providers. Could an AI risk predictor help?

1)Meta faces nearly $1B bill after court ruling tied to youth mental health harms

Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press

By Staff, August 6, 2026

Meta has been ordered to pay another $567 million in a landmark New Mexico case centred on the impact of Facebook and Instagram on young people, bringing the company’s total liability in the lawsuit to $942 million.

The ruling, issued Thursday by Judge Bryan Biedscheid, follows a jury decision in March that ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties after finding the company knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

The latest award allocates $420 million toward treatment services for young people. The remaining funds will support awareness and prevention efforts, screening services and other related costs over the next five years.

The decision marks another legal setback for Meta as the company confronts a growing number of lawsuits across the United States alleging its social media platforms have harmed children and teenagers.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the ruling demonstrates that technology companies can be held accountable when products are designed in ways that put children at risk.

Meta has vowed to appeal.

The total judgment represents only a small share of Meta’s financial resources. The company’s annual profit was about $60 billion in 2025. Investors appeared largely unfazed by the ruling, with Meta shares falling less than half a per cent in after-hours trading Thursday to $589.44.

Court orders changes to Facebook and Instagram safeguards

During the second phase of the case, prosecutors sought sweeping changes to Meta’s platforms, including restrictions on features they argued encourage excessive use, stronger age-verification measures and additional protections against child sexual exploitation.

The judge ordered Facebook and Instagram to create banner notifications and information screens that clearly explain available safety features, best practices and tools for addressing issues such as inappropriate comments. Those changes, along with an educational campaign in New Mexico, will be subject to state review.

The court said federal children’s privacy laws limit how far age-verification requirements can go. Under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the court cannot require Meta to collect personal information from children under 13 or passively track them online for age-verification purposes.

The ruling also found it would be unfair to impose age-verification requirements solely on Meta while other social media companies are not subject to the same obligations.

New age-detection measures required

Instead, the court directed Meta to continue improving its age-assurance tools in New Mexico.

The company currently uses artificial intelligence systems that estimate users’ ages based on signals including their friends, the content they view and the material they post. The ruling requires Meta to attempt to develop a dedicated prediction model for users under 13 within the next two years.

Meta must also seek proof of age from New Mexico users it estimates are younger than 13. If the company determines someone is under 13, or under 18 but cannot establish a more precise age, it must treat that user as belonging to the younger age category until age verification is completed.

The company has also been ordered to partner with schools or a child safety organization to establish a reporting portal that would allow school staff to flag users who may be under 13.

As part of the ruling, Meta must delete personal information collected from users under 13 and provide progress reports twice a year detailing its compliance with the court’s orders.

More lawsuits are on the horizon

The New Mexico case is only one of several legal challenges facing the social media giant.

Later this month, Meta is scheduled to face the first four of 29 states involved in a federal multidistrict lawsuit in Oakland, Calif. The states claim Meta contributed to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly designing Instagram and Facebook features that are addictive to children.

Eight states, including Tennessee, have also launched separate legal actions in their own courts. A trial is currently underway in Tennessee.

Last month, Meta, TikTok, Snap and YouTube were sued by the families of four teenagers who died by suicide. The families allege “years of escalating harms” from the platforms contributed to the teens’ deaths.

Laura Edelson, an assistant professor at Northeastern University who studies social media and cybersecurity, said the New Mexico ruling could signal broader efforts by states to regulate platform design through the courts.

with files from The Associated Press

2)Dermatologists desperately want gen Z to stop ‘tanmaxxing’ — but are their warnings effective?

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Nicole Ireland, August 1, 2026

Dr. Julia Carroll feels like the progress made over years of educating people how to protect their skin from sun damage is sliding backwards.

“Two different times in June, I had patients of mine that were in showing me texts on their phone of their teenage girls asking if they could skip school because the UV index was high and they wanted to go home and tan,” the Toronto dermatologist said.

That’s very different from what she heard from people aged 15 to 25 as recently as five years ago.

“When you asked about their skin care routine, they would start with saying, ‘well, I’m very good about my sunscreen,'” said Carroll, who is chair of the sun awareness working group with the Canadian Dermatology Association.

Part of what changed, she said, is a social media trend that became popular this spring and summer.

TikTok feeds have been flush with posts from mostly gen Z — teens and young adults in their 20s — posing in bikinis or showing off their tan lines with the hashtag #tanmaxxing. The trend promotes maximum sun exposure with minimal, if any, sunscreen — and is alarming parents and dermatologists.

“It’s really concerning because the UV index is meant to be a warning system to tell people to increase their protective measures — whether it’s sunscreen or staying indoors, using sun-protective clothing (or) seeking shade,” Carroll said.

The consequences of tanmaxxing may not appear for another 20 to 30 years, she said, when today’s youth could be dealing with “irreparable sun damage.”

“It could be something like having more photo aging, which is like wrinkles and pigment, than we would normally expect. But it could be as serious as melanomas and non-melanoma skin cancers like basal cells and squamous cells.”

But warnings about the future from dermatologists and parents aren’t effective as a deterrent, said Lana Armani, a 22-year-old social media and marketing specialist who lives in Montreal and posts photos of tanning with friends to TikTok.

“Every weekend that we see it’s a nice day, it’s UV (rays) out, we’re like, OK, let’s make a post about (how) we’re tanmaxxing because we wanna show people that we are tanning and we’re like, joining in. And it’s also a trend that’s been very popular. So we’re kind of hopping on that,” Armani said.

Tanmaxxing is a subset of the broader “looksmaxxing” trend, she said.

“Basically what it means is you’re optimizing an aspect of your life or your looks to make yourself feel better and more confident.”

Armani said her generation realizes they’re tanning at the “exact time” that UV index warnings say not to.

They also know about the risks of premature aging and even skin cancer, but they’re choosing not to think about those dangers.

“It’s about living in the present.”

That attitude is reflected in a poll conducted in April on behalf of the Canadian Dermatology Association, which found almost 40 per cent of 1,000 gen Z Canadians surveyed said they had intentionally tanned in the past year.

That’s despite 79 per cent of respondents expressing concern about skin cancer and 63 per cent saying they know tanning is a risk, the survey by Ipsos found.

The Canadian Research Insights Council, an industry organization that promotes polling standards, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

If dermatologists want to get through to people her age, they need to get celebrities and influencers on social media to promote sunscreen products that have an immediate beauty effect, such as a tint or glow, said Armani, whose facial makeup does contain sunscreen.

“Tanmaxxing isn’t just about going in the sun and getting exposure. It’s also about wearing things that bring out your tan or like putting body oil or like a little shimmer that I put on sometimes in makeup.”

She acknowledges that such products exist, but “honestly I don’t really hear people my age talking about them.”

“If they were marketed more like a beauty product instead of just sunscreen, I think more people would actually use them,” she said.

Armani said she and her friends use self-tanner before a trip or an event, but not as a replacement for soaking up the sun.

“I feel like a natural tan looks different, lasts longer, and just makes you feel better overall. I think that’s why people still choose to tan even though self-tanners are an option,” she said.

Although gen Z coined the term “tanmaxxing,” many people in previous generations also overexposed themselves to the sun’s UV rays when they were young, said Dr. Ivan Litvinov, an associate professor of dermatology at McGill University in Montreal.

“It was at a time so popular that people used reflectors to maximize tanning,” said Litvinov, who studies sun safety behaviours.

He said children tend to be protected from the sun until about the age of 14 because their parents can make them apply sunscreen, wear sun-protective clothing and hats and minimize exposure to the sun during peak UV hours.

But after that, teens start to make their own decisions and many begin tanning in the sun, he said. After they turn 18, they are also legally able to use tanning beds.

There is also a biological reason that drives people to stay out in the sun, Litvinov said.

“It actually feels good to be in the sun. This is an evolutionary pressure to force humans out of their cave so that they can make some vitamin D, otherwise we would have rickets and we’d die.”

But tanning for pleasure gives much more sun exposure than the body needs and becomes harmful, he said.

Armani said tanmaxxing should be done “in moderation” — but dermatologists say there’s no such thing as a “safe” tan.

“A tan is basically your skin saying that ‘I am being damaged,'” Carroll said.

“(It says) ‘you’re not protecting me. So in order to protect myself, I’m gonna increase the pigment in my skin, so increase the melanin production to try to give myself some protection.'”

But the “protection” provided by a tan is equivalent to an SPF of four, Carroll said, and dermatologists recommend using sunscreens that have an SPF of at least 30.

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, the rates of melanoma — a deadly form of skin cancer — have increased over the last 30 years.

Sun exposure and tanning beds are the main risks for developing melanoma, the society’s website says.

“Incidence rates of melanoma in Canada are among the highest in the world. Reduce your risk of skin cancer by being safe in the sun,” it says.

The cancer society advises reducing time in the sun between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., or any time the UV index is 3 or more, and seeking shade or using an umbrella. It also recommends wearing sunglasses, a wide-brimmed hat and using sunscreen on any skin that isn’t covered by clothing.

3)Delirium is often missed by health providers. Could an AI risk predictor help?

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Hannah Alberga, Aug. 4, 2026.

Bruce MacLeod never thought he would forget his own birthday.

But a couple days after a heart valve replacement in February 2025, he did.

“It was strange. It was just out of reach, like, if I reached a little further, I could have pulled those memories back, but I was unsuccess,sful at the time,” MacLeod, 65, said.

His partner, Harry Ennis, recalls coming into the hospital room one day to find MacLeod had ripped off his heart monitor, and his belongings were packed up to leave.

Ennis asked why. MacLeod replied he didn’t know.

“And then when I talked to a nurse, matter of fact, he said, ‘Oh, that’s delirium, that’s pretty normal,’” Ennis said.

Ennis said if he had known about his partner’s potential risk of delirium beforehand, he could have tried to prevent it, “rather than, it’s here. Now what do we do?”

“I think it would have made a huge difference.”

Research shows about one in four adults become delirious during a hospital admission. That’s about 500,000 Canadians a year. Age is a risk factor, as delirium presents in about half of hospitalized patients ages 65 and older.

Almost any medical condition can lead to delirium, an “acute brain failure” that causes a patient to suddenly be severely confused. They can hallucinate and be aggressive, punching a family member or spitting on a nurse, or they can be sleepy, lethargic and withdrawn.

Up to 40 per cent of cases can be prevented with proper sleep, hydration, nutrition and mobility, research shows. But delirium is often unrecognized, misdiagnosed as depression or dementia, or misattributed to aging.

Recognition rates can be as low as 16 per cent.

A randomized control trial rolling out at 13 Ontario hospitals is aiming to reduce preventable cases by identifying patients who might get delirium with an artificial intelligence calculator that suggests who to prioritize.

Between patients, Dr. Amol Verma rolls a computer into a hospital room on the general internal medicine ward at St Michael’s Hospital in Toronto to show how it works. It’ll be used on real patients at the hospital starting in October as part of a one-year trial split into two groups — six other sites in the province are already using the platform.

Verma opens a web browser to a delirium risk prediction calculator and inputs a hypothetical 78-year-old woman’s information – her medical record number, hospital, age, lab test results and diagnoses.

A red message appears on the screen: “high risk.”

“This patient has an estimated greater than 50 per cent risk of developing delirium. If clinically appropriate, consider prioritizing them for delirium prevention bundle.”

The bundle includes assisting with meals to monitor nutrition, suggesting sips of water, keeping track of daily mobility, adjusting light to help with sleep, relaxation exercises and cognitive stimulation activities.

Dr. Jacques Lee, who is not involved in the trial but has researched delirium for 20 years, said a tool that helps health providers recognize it has a lot of potential.

“The very nature of delirium itself leads to difficulty recognizing it,” Lee said, noting the range of presentations, which can fluctuate and even go away and come back.

But he said for the tool to actually improve outcomes, issues such as overcrowding and staff shortages that often push basic care to fall by the wayside also have to be fixed.

“We all know what we’re supposed to do. What actually happens on the wards – that’s where the rub is,” said Lee, inaugural research chair of Schwartz Reisman Emergency Medicine Institute in geriatric emergency medicine.

The absence of this care can be deadly. Those with delirium are more than twice as likely to die in hospital or require a nursing home. It’s also associated with worsening cognitive impairment and dementia. An Ottawa-based study in 2021 found a patient’s hospital stay can increase by almost a week and cost an additional $6,000.

HOW IT STARTED

Verma became aware of delirium on a personal level almost 20 years ago when he noticed his grandmother was disoriented after surgery on a fractured leg.

“Seeing her be confused was just striking because she was someone who was very sharp mentally,” Verma said.

He recalls her thinking that she was preparing for a wedding, trying to write invitations from her hospital bed.

“Now practising as a clinician, we just see this entity so commonly and it’s so clear how profound an effect it has on people and their families,” he said.

Verma was in medical school at the time. Years later when he became a staff physician, he got a call from former classmate Dr. Fahad Razak who was startled by the amount of health data that existed, and how little of it was being used to improve patient care.

Together, they began building a hospital data research network called GEMINI, short for General Medicine Inpatient Initiative, that now includes about 40 hospitals in Ontario, run out of St. Michael’s Hospital. They recently received $100 million from the federal government’s artificial intelligence strategy to nationally scale it.

The delirium risk calculator is one of their projects and began with a research study of nearly 4,000 admissions at six Toronto area hospitals.

Delirium is often under identified and inconsistently documented in routine hospital data, Razak said. To address this, they manually reviewed each record in painstaking detail for 30 minutes to an hour to determine whether the patient had delirium.

Delirium was identified in just over six per cent of admissions in the routine hospital data compared to 25 per cent in the manual review. With the adapted data set, they trained machine learning models to identify delirium. The model captured about 75 per cent of cases, a subsequent study shows.

They also surveyed thousands of patients on their social and demographic backgrounds, also often absent from medical records, to test the algorithm for bias. Studies show patients with delirium who don’t speak English are much more likely to berestrained, Razak said, as an example.

The randomized clinical trial is now testing how the calculator works in a variety of busy hospital environments, from downtown teaching hospitals like Toronto Western, to smaller community settings like Niagara Health Marotta Family Hospital.

“An important part of the trial is recognizing that for a technology like this, it can’t just be a predictor that a clinician uses. You have to think about the system, the entire ecosystem of who’s going to receive that information and what patients and families are going to do with it,” Razak said.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.