Utah Launches AI-Powered Prescription Refills

By Crystal Lindell

Utah is testing a new AI-powered prescription drug service that allows people to skip seeing the doctor if they need a medication refilled for some chronic conditions.

The program is powered by Doctronic, a telehealth service that uses artificial intelligence to act in the role of a doctor, asking patients questions that are typically asked during a refill appointment.

The renewal process will take less than five minutes and Doctronic will charge just $4 for the service.

“If you’re in the state of Utah and you need let’s say a statin renewed because you have high cholesterol and you don’t have any more renewals left on your prescription, but you’ve already been taking that statin, you can talk to our AI,” Matt Pavelle, Co-CEO of Doctronic, told ABC4 in Salt Lake City. 

“It’s going to lead you through the process as a human doctor would, ask all of the right questions, look up all the right interactions, make sure that it’s safe for you…to receive that renewal. It will approve that and send it to a pharmacy in Utah for you.”

The list of medications that Doctronic will refill is limited. The strongest pain relievers you can get are prescription strength acetaminophen and NSAIDs. Other medications used by people with chronic conditions like diabetes are also unavailable.

“The program does not fill prescriptions for controlled substances, such as opioids or ADHD medications, nor are injectables eligible, such as insulin or semaglutide/weight-loss drugs,” a spokesperson for the Utah Department of Commerce told PNN.

Maybe Utah’s program will work as they claim and using it will be even better than talking or seeing a human doctor. But I’m skeptical.

A program like this has the potential to help patients, but it comes with a lot of questions about how it will work in practice – especially given how horrible customer service AI bots have been in general. From personal experience, I can tell you that they are often impossible to communicate with.

I also worry about how accurate Doctronic is, given that other AI bots like ChatGPT can have an error rate of 52%. When it comes to medical decisions, that kind of error rate can be deadly. 

In case of a problem or error with a prescription, Doctronic could be held liable. According to ABC4, Doctronic is covered by a malpractice insurance policy

AI prescription refills could save patients from the cost and hassle of a doctor’s appointment, but if a program like this really takes off, I am certain that the companies running them will then increase the price of each AI appointment. 

In the end, if it was safe to continue prescribing a medication without checking in with a human doctor, the human doctor could easily allow for multiple refills..

And if a human doctor is not needed as part of the equation, why is an AI doctor even needed?

Theoretically, if human doctors are not needed, commonly renewed medications could just have a check-in questionnaire that patients fill out when they need more refills. A doctor would only get involved if any of the responses warranted it.

I would wager such a program would be significantly more accurate, but also significantly more difficult to launch. The lack of a buzzy AI angle would probably be a turn off for both lawmakers and medical professionals.  

There’s also the issue of losing the patient-to-doctor interaction, where other health issues are often flagged and treated. This program all but eliminates that possibility. 

It will be interesting to see how patients and doctors respond to the Doctronic program, and whether they like actually using it. I fully support making healthcare and prescriptions more affordable and accessible. I am just not convinced that an AI chatbot is the best way to achieve either of those goals. 

Utah Raid Uncovered Large Fentanyl Pill Ring

By Pat Anson, Editor

A drug bust in a Utah home last November has uncovered one of the largest counterfeit pill operations in U.S. history.

This week a federal grand jury in Salt Lake City indicted six individuals for manufacturing nearly 500,000 pills laced with illicit fentanyl that were disguised to look like the painkiller oxycodone and the anti-anxiety drug alprazolam (Xanax). The counterfeit pills were distributed throughout Utah and the United States to customers who ordered them online.

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that it is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. In recent years, illicit fentanyl has been blamed for thousands of overdose deaths in the U.S. and Canada.

“What we feared and hoped somehow would stay away has arrived in spades,” said Brian Besser, the DEA’s agent in charge in Utah. “Fentanyl is as dangerous as it gets.”

According to documents filed in federal court, the pill ring was created by Aaron Shamo and Drew Crandall, both Utah residents who worked together at eBay, but quickly grew to include the other conspirators. Prosecutors say the defendants purchased pill presses, dies and stamps so the counterfeit pill markings would match those of legitimate pharmaceutical drugs. Some items were purchased legally and others, such as fentanyl and alprazolam, were illegally imported from China

The fake pills were sold on a “dark net online store” at a significant profit. Once sold, Shamo and Crandall used their co-conspirators to package the pills and ship them to customers. In less than a year, the operation mailed 5,606 drug orders totaling $2.8 million, according to court documents.

“Shamo’s customer base was extremely comprehensive and widespread, touching every corner of the United States,” Besser said. “It touched large cities and rural communities.”

The round blue tablets manufactured by the pill ring were offered for sale online as oxycodone 30mg tablets. The tablets were debossed with “A 215” on the bisected side, with an “M” on one side and a “30” above the bisect on the other side. The indictment alleges the defendants did not use oxycodone at all in the manufacturing process, but instead used illicit fentanyl.

Federal agents arrested Shamo last November. During a raid on Shamo’s suburban Salt Lake City home, agents discovered a pill press capable of manufacturing several thousand pills an hour. Agents also seized 70,000 pills and $1.2 million in cash stuffed in garbage bags.

Crandall fled to Australia with his girlfriend and was in Laos when agents raided Shamo’s house. He was arrested last month in Hawaii. A summons will be issued for the other four conspirators for their initial appearances in federal court.