# Plain Language Summary: Healthy Technology Act of 2025

This bill would allow artificial intelligence and machine learning systems to legally prescribe medications to patients, but only under specific conditions. Right now, prescription drugs can only be prescribed by licensed human practitioners like doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. This bill would change that definition to include AI and machine learning technology, opening the door for computer systems to write prescriptions on their own.

For this to happen, two things must occur. First, the individual state where the AI would operate has to pass its own law allowing it. Second, the AI system has to go through the FDA's approval process—the same rigorous testing and review that medical devices go through to ensure they're safe and effective. This means an AI prescription system couldn't just start operating; it would need both state permission and federal FDA clearance before it could write a single prescription.

The practical effect could be significant for patients and healthcare. Supporters might argue this could speed up prescription refills, reduce wait times for routine medications, and help address doctor shortages in rural areas. However, it also raises questions about accountability—if an AI makes a dangerous prescribing error, who is responsible? The bill doesn't address these liability questions or establish safeguards for patient safety beyond the FDA approval process. This is a foundational change that would require states to decide whether they want to allow it and establish their own rules around how AI prescribing would work in their healthcare systems.

Healthy Technology Act of 2025

Schweikert, David

Healthy Technology Act of 2025 This bill establishes that artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning technology may be eligible to prescribe drugs.Currently, certain drugs may be dispensed only upon a prescription provided by a practitioner licensed by law to administer the drug. Under this bill, an AI or machine learning technology may qualify as such a prescribing practitioner if the technology is (1) authorized by state law to prescribe the drug involved; and (2) approved, cleared, or authorized under certain federal provisions pertaining to medical devices and products.