FDA layoffs could shift AI regulatory burden to health systems

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Over the weekend, the federal government eliminated thousands of employees from health care agencies in key jobs, such as the FDA’s head of medical device safety. Because AI is so new, a lot of the FDA employees working on AI were newly hired and thus vulnerable to the firings — 10 people out of a team of 40 working on reviewing imaging devices, as well as 40 people on a research team that helps regulatory staff understand AI and other research, STAT has learned so far. 

STAT’s FDA reporter Lizzy Lawrence has an excellent piece on those layoffs. The FDA has been struggling to keep up with AI-related applications and these terminations will only compound those issues. An official from the agency warned Lizzy that these cuts mean that more of the responsibility for medical device and AI safety will end up falling on hospitals’ hands.