Utah medical board urges halt to AI-driven prescription renewal pilot

Utah launched a pilot program that partners with AI startup Doctronic to let a chatbot conduct clinical evaluations and automatically renew prescriptions for roughly 200 medications, without direct physician oversight.

The state’s Medical Licensing Board said it only became aware of the agreement after the program began and raised concerns that the lack of physician involvement could endanger patients.

In a letter released Friday, the board asked state officials to suspend the experiment immediately, citing the need for proper consultation and safety safeguards.

The dispute highlights growing regulatory scrutiny of artificial-intelligence tools in health care and may affect how other jurisdictions approach similar AI prescription initiatives.