Artificial intelligence has begun to autonomously write prescription refills in the state of Utah, sparking concerns among medical experts and advocacy groups.
Under a pilot program using the regulatory sandbox framework, Utah's Department of Commerce partnered with Doctronic, a telehealth startup featuring an AI chatbot, to offer patients nationwide a service to refill prescriptions for common medications through an automated system.
According to a non-peer-reviewed preprint article from Doctronic, its AI diagnosed 81 percent of cases matching the diagnosis made by human clinicians. For treatment plans, the AI matched in 99 percent of cases.
For patients in Utah, Doctronic's chatbot can automatically refill prescriptions without direct oversight for $4 per service fee after verifying state residency and pulling up prescription history to offer a list of eligible medications. However, it will only be able to renew prescriptions for 190 common medications covering chronic conditions, excluding pain and ADHD medications that are injected.
Critics say the system raises concerns about safety and human oversight. Adam Oskowitz, Doctronic's co-founder and professor at the University of California, San Francisco, says his AI is designed to err on the side of caution and refer any uncertain cases to a real doctor. However, Robert Steinbrook, director of the health research group Public Citizen, describes the program as "dangerous" and urges federal regulatory agencies not to overlook autonomous medical practice.
Under a pilot program using the regulatory sandbox framework, Utah's Department of Commerce partnered with Doctronic, a telehealth startup featuring an AI chatbot, to offer patients nationwide a service to refill prescriptions for common medications through an automated system.
According to a non-peer-reviewed preprint article from Doctronic, its AI diagnosed 81 percent of cases matching the diagnosis made by human clinicians. For treatment plans, the AI matched in 99 percent of cases.
For patients in Utah, Doctronic's chatbot can automatically refill prescriptions without direct oversight for $4 per service fee after verifying state residency and pulling up prescription history to offer a list of eligible medications. However, it will only be able to renew prescriptions for 190 common medications covering chronic conditions, excluding pain and ADHD medications that are injected.
Critics say the system raises concerns about safety and human oversight. Adam Oskowitz, Doctronic's co-founder and professor at the University of California, San Francisco, says his AI is designed to err on the side of caution and refer any uncertain cases to a real doctor. However, Robert Steinbrook, director of the health research group Public Citizen, describes the program as "dangerous" and urges federal regulatory agencies not to overlook autonomous medical practice.
but for real though, I gotta say I'm a little uneasy about this whole situation 
. Like, isn't there gonna be someone watching the back of patients when they're relying on an AI to refill their meds? 
I mean, 81% accuracy rate is still pretty impressive but what if the AI makes a mistake?! 
And what's with the exclusions on certain medications? What if someone needs that ADHD medication or pain relief and the AI says no?! 
It just seems like we're playing with fire here without fully understanding the consequences 
.
no thanks! And what happens when it gets stuck or can't handle a new case? We're talking about people's health here, not just some tech glitch 
. I'd want to see way more human oversight before they start automating prescription refills. $4 might seem cheap, but in my book, it's priceless to have a real doctor's opinion on our meds 
.
. i'd want to see more data on this AI's accuracy rate before i get on board with it... or maybe some actual human oversight?
. And why are there limits on which meds can be refilled? Isnt that just gonna cause more problems down the line? 
u should always get advice from a real doc before refillin or stoppin sumthin... even if the AI says so 
. I mean, what's next? Are they gonna let robots decide who lives or dies on life support? It's like, we're already giving AI so much power, now we're letting it make medical decisions without human oversight? That just feels too much for me 
meanwhile these med experts are warning about safety concerns...like what? a rogue bot prescribin meds to people? 
come on guys, take it easy. its just an ai. and $4 for a refill? thats crazy 
... but $4 per service fee is still kinda steep. And have you seen the list of medications they're allowed to refill? It's like, what about all the other ones that people need? 
. What if there's some tiny detail that Doctronic's AI misses? Like, what if someone has a rare allergy or something? 
I just can't shake off this feeling that we're playing with fire here... or in this case, prescription refills 
. And let's be real, $4 is a pretty small price to pay for peace of mind (and a filled prescription). Can't we just trust that AI has our best interests at heart? 
. And what about the medications that don't make it to the list? Like, chronic conditions aren't even covered here 
.
. It's like they're trying to push AI into our lives without considering the consequences 
. We need more discussion around this kind of thing before we start rolling out autonomous medical practices 
.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves here and forget about all the potential downsides...
... don't get me wrong, it's gotta be better than waiting on hold with a human customer service rep 
.
. Can't have too much human oversight in this situation, imo 
. This is just the beginning, and I hope we can get it right before things get out of hand