A now-viral post on X has sparked a fresh debate about the risks of using artificial intelligence in healthcare after a user claimed an AI tool almost led to an unnecessary surgery for their mother. The story quickly drew attention as people questioned how much hospitals should rely on AI without proper human checks. The discussion became even bigger after users linked the incident to a lawsuit involving the Mayo Clinic and its AI systems.
The post also reignited concerns about whether AI should assist doctors or make decisions that directly affect patient care. While many people believe AI can help improve healthcare, others argued that it should never replace a doctor’s judgment.
A Post Raises Serious Concerns
The X user shared that their mother broke her femur last year and underwent surgery. According to the post, the hospital later used AI to examine her X-rays after the operation.
The user claimed, “my mother broke her femur last fall, and the hospital used AI to “analyze” her X Rays after her first surgery. it hallucinated a second fracture in her ankle, and she was being prepped for a second surgery when a doctor finally looked at them and realized.”
In another post, the user added, “they were about to put a woman in her 70s through an unnecessary surgery on the word of a computer program and it’s a stroke of luck she didn’t have to. and they probably would’ve charged her for their mistake if they hadn’t caught it.”
The user also shared how frightening the experience was, writing, “I was distraught man i thought she was gonna die!!”
Lawsuit Against Mayo Clinic
As the post spread, several users pointed to an ongoing lawsuit involving the Mayo Clinic.
A user wrote, “Mayo Clinic is being sued by its former AI compliance lead, who alleges the hospital system concealed its AI tool’s 67 per cent error rate at the expense of patients, per Futurism.”
According to Futurism and Minnesota Public Radio, former Mayo Clinic research director and AI compliance lead Traci Tamiko Eto has accused the hospital of ignoring her concerns about its AI systems.
The lawsuit claims that after she raised privacy and safety issues, her warnings were dismissed. Eto also alleged that teams working on MAYA, the clinic’s AI-powered digital assistant, deleted poor test results, overstated the tool’s performance and failed to properly report an error rate that was allegedly as high as 67 per cent.
The lawsuit further claims she was later left out of meetings and eventually told she was a “poor cultural fit.” According to the filing, she was asked to resign or face changes to her employment record that could affect her future career.
Mayo Clinic has denied any wrongdoing and said its research and clinical work follow all applicable laws and regulations. The organisation also reportedly stated that it does not comment on ongoing legal cases.
my mother broke her femur last fall, and the hospital used AI to “analyze” her X Rays after her first surgery. it hallucinated a second fracture in her ankle, and she was being prepped for a second surgery when a doctor finally looked at them and realized https://t.co/9UT4yqc2IS
— ???????????????? 🦇� (@DEFlLEDSOUL) August 4, 2026
Internet Reacts
The viral thread attracted mixed reactions online. One user said, “Using AI on patient medical records has to be a HIPAA violation.”
Another wrote, “Skeptical about this. All surgeons will need to look at the films themselves to determine operating technique and implants required so any ‘prep’ would unlikely have progressed far beyond a doctor looking at the film and saying yeah the report isn’t right.”
A person shared a personal experience, saying, “The dentist i used to go to used ai to check my siblings dentist x rays and it hallucinated that they had 17 cavities, we got a second opinion and yeah it was wayyy less.”
Another commented, “I think it’s great to use the AI as a way to make sure you didn’t miss anything. And over time they can get trained to be better at these things. But using it without any human intervention is just… Irresponsible in the extreme.” One more user simply asked, “why doctor trust ai so much?”