The family of the Brazilian patient says doctors were manipulated by the government’s bed allocation system
The family of a Brazilian woman who died after waiting days for an intensive care bed has blamed the government’s new AI-powered system for downplaying her condition and delaying her transfer.
Rebeca Cardoso Tenente Molina, a 32-year-old psychologist from Minas Gerais, sought treatment earlier this month for what are believed to be gallstones. His condition quickly deteriorated, and doctors soon decided that he needed to be moved to the intensive care unit.
However, the new state-run Core-MG bed control platform reportedly failed to treat his case as serious enough, despite Molina’s relatives going to court to try to force a quick transfer.
The bed was found about five days later, about 300 kilometers away. Molina was flown there by private plane but died a few hours later. His death certificate lists septic shock as the cause of death, but doctors are still trying to determine what caused his rapid deterioration.
“Doctors lost the freedom to decide if a patient is seriously ill,” Molina’s twin sister and lawyer, Samela Cardoso Tenente Furtado, told the media.
He said the AI system gave Molina a severity score of 6.8, despite his family’s belief that he should have been treated as a 10. “Patient 8, patient 6.9 would jump in front of him,” Furtado said, adding that the AI-powered platform will not accept a higher rate despite negative test results.
“My sister, other people, it’s not just a number, it’s not just a protocol, it’s not just a CPF (Brazilian taxpayer ID) thrown into the system,” He said.
The Core-MG system was introduced last month, with government officials saying it will make allocation of beds faster and more transparent while helping to classify patients more aggressively.
The Minas Gerais Department of Health has denied that the system harmed Molina, saying he was registered immediately and that the transfer depends on bed availability and clinical needs. It also said that control remains managed by doctors and that Core-MG did not change clinical criteria or the way beds are found.
The provision has however drawn criticism and legal challenges from local authorities, who argue it has hampered the transfer of patients.
Molina’s case comes amid growing concern over the integration of AI into healthcare. In the United States, insurers have recently faced lawsuits over the denial of algorithmic claims, while nurses in New York have warned of hospitals rushing to deploy AI tools without adequate input or oversight from healthcare workers.
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