California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Sept. 30 establishing new safeguards for clinical judgment and addressing bias in AI tools used in healthcare.
The measures are part of a broader package of AI laws protecting workers and consumers.
The healthcare protections ensure physicians and licensed providers can exercise their professional judgment when AI or other clinical decision tools are used in patient care. They also require developers of clinical decision tools to take reasonable steps to reduce known or predictable bias in how the systems are used.
The governor’s office listed two healthcare AI bills among the measures signed: AB 1979, authored by Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, and SB 503, authored by state Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, D-San Diego.
Mr. Newsom vetoed AB 2575, a separate bill that would have barred retaliation against healthcare workers who use their clinical judgment, such as overriding AI recommendations they consider unsafe, according to a CalMatters report. The California Nurses Association criticized the veto. Sandy Reding, RN, president of the association, said the governor “vetoed the bill that would have protected us for using our judgment.”
The broader package also prohibits employers from relying solely on AI when making disciplinary or termination decisions and requires employers to provide notice when an AI system causes a mass layoff, relocation or termination.
A California Hospital Association spokesperson told Becker’s the association no longer opposes AB 1979.
