AI scribe class action

California patients have filed class actions accusing health systems of using an AI note-taking tool to record doctor visits without proper consent. (arstechnica.com) Two suits filed in April 2026 target Sutter Health and MemorialCare in federal court, alleging violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, the federal Wiretap Act, and related privacy claims. (hipaajournal.com) The complaints say the tool, made by Abridge AI, recorded conversations on microphone-enabled devices in exam rooms, sent audio to outside servers for processing, and generated draft notes for the medical record. (hipaajournal.com) A separate proposed class action filed in San Diego Superior Court in November 2025 accuses Sharp HealthCare of doing the same thing and of falsely documenting that patients had agreed to be recorded. (kpbs.org) KPBS reported that the Sharp complaint estimates more than 100,000 patients may have been recorded during the rollout, and says the plaintiff discovered the issue after reading notes from a July appointment. (kpbs.org) An ambient clinical documentation system works like a digital scribe: it listens during a visit, turns the conversation into a draft chart note, and hands that draft to the clinician for review before it is saved. (uchicagomedicine.org) Hospitals adopted these tools to cut typing and after-hours charting, and Abridge says its software produces “clinically useful” notes inside electronic health record workflows used by large systems including Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, and MemorialCare. (abridge.com, hipaajournal.com) Some health systems tell patients the software is supervised and that clinicians review every draft note before it enters the chart. UChicago Medicine says doctors “thoroughly review, edit and approve” each note before it is saved to the electronic health record. (uchicagomedicine.org) The California suits focus less on whether the notes help doctors and more on whether patients were clearly told a recording was happening, where the audio went, and whether a third party handled it. (arstechnica.com, hipaajournal.com) The defendants have not admitted wrongdoing. Sutter said its clinical technology is “carefully evaluated and implemented in accordance with applicable laws and regulations,” while MemorialCare declined to comment on the April suit and Sharp told KPBS it could not comment on pending litigation. (pcmag.com, kpbs.org) The cases now put a fast-growing corner of health care AI under courtroom scrutiny: not just whether the software writes a good note, but whether the record of consent is true when the note is done. (arstechnica.com, kpbs.org)