PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla., Oct. 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into healthcare, medical malpractice attorney Sean C. Domnick says the most important question may not be whether AI will replace doctors but whether doctors will continue to exercise independent judgment when technology points them toward an answer.
Domnick, a shareholder at Rafferty Domnick Cunningham & Yaffa, explores the issue “Can Independent Medical Judgement Survive AI in Medicine?” , a new commentary published by KevinMD, a leading platform for physician and healthcare commentary.
Domnick argues that much of the public discussion surrounding AI in healthcare has focused on the wrong concern.
“The real question isn’t whether AI will replace doctors,” Domnick writes. “It’s whether doctors will slowly begin relying on AI to make more of the decisions that have traditionally depended on independent medical judgment.”
As a medical malpractice attorney, Domnick frequently examines medical decisions after catastrophic outcomes. Those investigations often turn on questions about why another diagnostic test was not ordered, an abnormal finding was not investigated or a patient was discharged rather than admitted.
Historically, there has been a human decision at the center of that inquiry. A physician evaluated the available information and exercised professional judgment. AI, Domnick says, could make that decision-making chain considerably more complicated.
“An emergency physician may receive an AI-generated assessment of a patient’s risk of sepsis before walking into the room. A radiologist may have software identifying suspicious findings on an image,” Domnick said. “These tools can be extraordinarily valuable. The question is what happens when doctors become so accustomed to their recommendations that challenging the technology becomes less common.”
Domnick stresses that he is not arguing against artificial intelligence in medicine. He believes AI has enormous potential to help physicians identify diseases earlier, recognize patterns humans might miss and prevent medical errors.
The distinction, he says, is between using technology to support clinical judgment and allowing technology to gradually substitute for it.
Medicine has always involved uncertainty. Patients can present atypically, symptoms can point in several directions and an apparently obvious diagnosis can prove wrong. Domnick argues that these are precisely the moments when independent medical judgment matters most.
“The best physicians I’ve encountered understand that medicine doesn’t always give you a neat answer,” Domnick said. “Great doctors recognize when something doesn’t fit and keep asking questions. We should want AI to strengthen that instinct, not weaken it.”
As AI tools become more sophisticated, Domnick believes hospitals, physicians and regulators should consider how to capture the benefits while continuing to encourage doctors to question automated recommendations when circumstances warrant it.
“AI should inform decisions. It should improve decisions. It should challenge assumptions and reduce preventable mistakes,” Domnick writes. “But it should never become a substitute for the thoughtful skepticism that defines outstanding physicians.”
For Domnick, the goal should not be choosing between technology and human expertise.
“The future of medicine will almost certainly include artificial intelligence,” Domnick said. “That can be a tremendous thing for patients. But the physician still has to be the physician. Technology can provide information and suggest possibilities. Ultimately, medicine still requires someone willing to look at the patient in front of them and ask whether the answer makes sense.”
About Rafferty Domnick Cunningham & Yaffa
Rafferty Domnick Cunningham & Yaffa is a leading Florida law firm dedicated to advocating for victims of mass torts, medical malpractice and corporate negligence. With offices in Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, Pensacola, and Jacksonville, the firm has a track record of holding powerful institutions accountable and fighting for justice on behalf of individuals and families affected by preventable harm.
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