Virginia does not need a legal pathway for human experimentation. This bill creates a vague carve-out that allows health tech and AI companies to bypass safety and consumer protections, with no clear beneficiaries and no demonstrated need. If you can’t explain who it helps or what it does, it shouldn’t become law. Please do not vote for this bill.

The Health Care Learning Lab and Regulatory Improvement Plan is a fast track for allowing unscrupulous companies unregulated access to Virginian's health. In a time where we are seeing an increase in both the inefficiencies and structural failures created by artificial intelligence integration it is deeply concerning to see this bill (that has been struck down 5 times before) once again before the house of delegates. Virginia has a dark legacy of unethical human experimentation and the performance of scientific study/procedure without the consent of patients. As a leader in the US eugenicist movement, Virginia forcibly sterilized thousands between 1924 and 1979 only slowing in 1988 after procedures were put in place requiring informed consent in most cases. In 2001 the Virginia General Assembly passed a joint resolution expressing regret for VA's aggressive eugenics practices as a misuse of "a respectable scientific veneer to cover [unethical] activities." No Virginian Health Technology Company has spoken in favor of this bill. With our hospitals and medical research facilities leading the US in neurological disorders, cardiovascular medicine, type 1 diabetes, and oncology it is alarming that no state-based company has come out in support of this deregulation. "Innovation in health" is a vague description that opens the door for practices that have ambiguous or unsubstantiated benefits at best and are downright dangerous at worse. If we cannot clearly identify the benefits of deregulation then the regulation is not the innovation stopper it claims to be. OpenAI and Neuralink's aggressive lobbying around the country looking for footholds into established health institutions or disenfranchised communities for microchip development or other human experimentation is cause for immediate concern. It is not hard to draw the conclusion that those companies and other ai "innovation first, people last" projects seek to expand their influence over VA politics beyond the construction of power-grid sapping data centers. Thirty eight years ago the Virginia General Assembly came together to recognize that in order to protect and preserve the safety of Virginians across the state, regulation was critical as was recognizing the dangers of nonconsenting medical procedures. Twenty five years ago the Virginia General Assembly recognized that a blind eye and lack of oversight had lead to the cruel and unethical treatment of our most vulnerable populations. Virginia must continue to move forward with its protection of its population and not backslide into permitting unethical treatment and experimentation. This bill has failed to pass for five years and may this be the last time it fails, never to be introduced again.

There is no need to create a legal pathway for human experimentation in Virginia. In summary, this bill seeks to allow "health tech companies" who seek to utilize AI in health care in some form, to have "restrictive" regulations lifted for them in order to gain market access so that they may "prove" to the Commonwealth if the regulations were necessary in the first place. Either intentionally or unintentionally, this bill will create a carve out for companies like Neuralink or similar companies to skirt pass safety regulations, consumer protections, and/or emerging & existing regulations about artificial intelligence in VA. Health innovation is regulated almost exclusively by the federal government. Products that have completed clinical trials and processed through the FDA, do not have additional health state regulations to overcome. There could be regulations that indirectly impact health innovation such as: - Consumer Protections - Charity care requirements - Human Research - Human Cloning Advocates have failed to give a compelling reason for this bill, despite this being the 5th year the bill has been filed. In all 5 years, not a single Virginian health tech company has spoken in favor of the bill or indicated willingness to participate in the program. When asked about potential beneficiaries or targeted regulations, advocates failed to mention specifics and only offered generalized statements about existing products. If you don't know what a bill will do, don't vote for it. There is not a multiple of legitimate health tech companies residing in Virginia that are seeking to utilize "life-saving products" if only VA regulations "weren't standing in their way". There is a risk though, of creating a backdoor for a sketchy companies with influence to take gain market access. The Commonwealth does not need to create a carve out for “Snake-AI-L solutions”, "The Tuskegee Experiment Reimagined", or “Mark of the Beast Incorporated” to make a quick buck at the expense of Virginians health. Given the history of human experimentation in the US, the inclusion of language that health tech companies must have targeted engagement of diverse communities or populations less than 300% FPL is EXTREMELY concerning. Considering both Neuralink and OpenAI publicly stated they intend to expand operations in 2026, if a health tech company was putting microchips in the brains of vulnerable populations around the Commonwealth, wouldn't it be important that existing regulations were still in place? There is a right way to do things and a wrong way. Virginians deserve real solutions, not flawed, ambiguous, and far reaching proposals such as this. Health care innovation is STRONG in the Commonwealth and it so without this bill. If any health tech company exists that would genuinely like to see this proposal, they should speak with their representative and submit specific legislation to addressing that need specifically. Again, THERE IS NO NEED FOR A LEGAL PATHWAY FOR HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION IN VIRGINIA. DO NOT VOTE FOR THIS BILL