Utah to Let AI Examine Patients and Prescribe Medication Without Direct Human Oversight

Utah First State to Allow AI Prescriptions Without Direct Doctor Oversight

A healthcare startup is launching a program in Utah that will let artificial intelligence examine patients and prescribe medication without direct human oversight, making it the first state in the country to do so. The initiative, run by Nolla Health, is limited in scope: it lasts one year and only covers patients with mild-to-moderate acne.

Patients sign up for Nolla Health's $4.99-per-month app and use it to scan their face. After completing a medical history and personal information form, the AI analyzes the skin, identifies the acne problem, rates the skin's oiliness, and generates a numerical acne severity score ranging from clear skin to severe acne. The system then combines that score with the provided medical information to recommend medication from a list of eight approved treatments.

Phased Rollout Keeps Doctors in the Loop Initially

While the program is designed to become fully automated, the first 100 prescriptions must be reviewed by actual doctors before being submitted to the pharmacy. In the second phase, the next 400 patients will have their prescriptions submitted to pharmacies by the AI and reviewed retrospectively by a physician on a weekly basis. In the final phase, a doctor will review at least 10% of the total prescriptions issued once a month.

Safety Concerns and Industry Context

The move comes amid repeated warnings about the dangers of trusting AI with medical advice. In one notable case last year, a 60-year-old man followed ChatGPT's advice and replaced the salt in his diet with sodium bromide, causing bromism, a psychiatric disorder not commonly seen since the 19th century. In March, Google quietly dropped an AI-powered search feature called What People Suggest, which offered crowdsourced health advice, just months after removing several AI Overviews that were found to show inaccurate information potentially putting users' health at risk.

Nolla Health CEO Luis Wenus said the adverse effects of the eight approved medications are limited to localized skin irritation or dryness, and the prescriptions are limited to topical medications rather than pills. While the program is small, it could represent an early step toward AI taking on a larger role in treating less serious conditions in patients.

Sources: techspot.com