Senate privacy committee advances bill to keep clinicians 'in the loop' on AI in health care

Assemblymember Bonta presented AB 1979 to the Senate Committee on Privacy, Digital Technologies and Consumer Protection, saying the bill would prevent clinical decisions from being made solely on the output of clinical decision‑support systems and would extend medical‑record protections to consumer‑facing health chatbots. She accepted committee amendments and asked for the committee's aye vote.

The bill’s sponsor said AB 1979 "requires health facilities to ensure that no clinical decisions are being made solely by an output from a clinical decision support system and that a licensed healthcare professional maintains the ability to exercise professional judgment." Dolores Trujillo, a California Nurses Association board member who testified in support, told the committee that "a nurse's professional health care judgment simply cannot be automated by an algorithm" and asked members to vote aye.

Supporters, including Tech Equity, said the bill strikes a balance between preserving innovation and protecting patients. Sam Gordon of Tech Equity told the committee AB 1979 "puts people next to technology and it allows it to inform a human with expertise and their own judgment and allows it to be supportive but not determinative."

Hospital groups, including the California Hospital Association, registered opposition unless section 3 is amended. Mark Farouk of CHA said hospitals already keep clinicians ‘‘in the loop’’ for tools such as early‑warning systems and AI imaging triage but raised concerns that the bill’s penalties and some prohibitions could be burdensome, disrupt training, or have unintended operational consequences.

Committee members pressed the author to narrow language and confirm that the bill is intended to preserve clinician authority without foreclosing tools that improve patient outcomes. Senator McNerney and others compared the bill’s human‑in‑the‑loop approach to similar proposals in other domains and signaled support.

The committee moved to pass AB 1979 as amended to the Health Committee; a roll call recorded six ayes and one no. The chair placed the measure on call for final concurrence and next steps.

The committee will next transmit the bill to the Health Committee where opponents signaled they will continue to press for clarifying amendments to section 3.