Artificial intelligence (AI) is supposed to make errors less common. But what happens if it doesn’t?

While AI can reduce medical errors, experts and malpractice attorneys say it could also cause them. And when a clinician using AI makes a mistake, it’s tough to answer the question of who’s to blame. Though there haven’t been any notable AI malpractice suits yet, these are things doctors and legal experts are paying attention to as AI takes over healthcare, with 3 in 5 physicians using it in 2024, according to an American Medical Association survey.

“If these systems are inaccurate, biased, or poorly integrated into clinical workflows, they can contribute to diagnostic errors or inappropriate treatment decisions, which could lead to malpractice claims,” Jeff Easley, general manager of the nonprofit Responsible AI Institute, told Healthcare Brew.

Experts share thoughts on who (or what) could be liable and how to avoid errors.—CC

Walgreens is entering its private company era with Sycamore Partners’s take-private deal, announced in early March, to buy it for at least $22 billion.

While getting off the public market can have its perks, analysts say the Walgreens Boots Alliance deal with the private equity (PE) firm could be risky, as it saddles the retail pharmacy giant with a significant amount of debt.

Of the $22 billion involved in the deal, 83% (or roughly $18.3 billion) is debt from various banking partners including Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, according to an analysis from the nonprofit Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP). That’s more than twice the average debt level (41%) PE firms used to acquire companies in 2024, the report found.

Pinching pennies. While it’s not clear why this deal specifically relies so heavily on debt, it’s a common practice when a firm may not have that much capital to invest in the first place.

Read more about what analysts think of Sycamore’s strategy here.—MA

There are 103,200+ people waiting for an organ transplant in the US, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. Massachusetts-based medical device company Paragonix Technologies is trying to make organs more accessible through its devices that look like boxes, which can transport hearts, lungs, livers, kidneys, and pancreases over long distances.

For example, in May 2023, the company successfully transported a donor heart from Juneau, Alaska, to Boston, Massachusetts. The devices replace the more traditional ice boxes, instead using unique technology that considers variables specific to each organ type, like pumping fluids into kidneys and keeping lungs inflated.

Lisa Anderson—Paragonix’s co-founder, CEO, and president—spoke with Healthcare Brew about recent company developments as well as the company’s plans for the future.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Paragonix’s KidneyVault perfusion system just completed its first successful commercial flight. How might this make donor kidneys more accessible?

Previously, placing a perfusion device [which pumps fluid into the organ] like that on a commercial aircraft wasn’t really possible or feasible. When you think about moving organs around, and they often travel very large distances, it’s very important that technology fits into normal modes of transportation, like an ambulance, a commercial airliner, etc.

Learn more about Paragonix here.—CM