A pharmacy chain in Vermont implemented AI for efficiency

Kinney Drugs in Essex Junction on Tuesday, July 21, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger In voicemails, spam folders and text messages across Vermont, an artificial intelligence tool is filing through years of pharmaceutical records, incoherently listing drugs and requesting the wrong refills on sensitive medication.  And customers often have no idea they agreed to it. “He calls you all the time, and he doesn’t say what the drug is,” said Kathy Callaghan, a Vermont customer of Kinney Drugs, referring to a new AI tool recently put to use by the Vermont and New York pharmacy chain.  Nearly every day, she recalled, her phone rings, and she hears an incomprehensive mutter of a drug from the AI voice. Confused, she approves the refill order, thinking the request is legitimate and she really is out of a prescription.  So far, it hasn’t been, she said.  “I’ve got four bottles of something that I take twice a week sitting here,” Callaghan said.  Earlier this summer, amid a nationwide wave of AI technology entering healthcare systems, Kinney Drugs implemented a new AI assistant for prescription refill services, lauding the tool as a way to improve communication and efficiency. But customers say it’s doing the opposite.   According to nearly a dozen Kinney Drugs customers across its stores in Vermont and New York who spoke to VTDigger, the AI rollout has coincided with a range of problems. Delays have grown between physicians ordering drugs and the pharmacy processing them. The system has been unable to locate longtime customer accounts, has ordered incorrect dosages and has failed to notify customers when refills were ready for pickup. And these inaccuracies are raising privacy concerns amongst customers.  Their mounting frustrations toward the AI is leading some customers to leave the pharmacy entirely, they said, and forcing others to continue using a system they distrust due to a lack of pharmaceutical options in rural areas.  As AI pops up in healthcare systems across the country, several lawyers told VTDigger that the technology is outpacing regulation, leaving consumer protections thin.  “There’s a delay in laws that are coming onto the books, so we’ve not seen a detailed picture of how companies are going to comply or how states are going to enforce the laws,” said Cody Venzke, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU. In Vermont, a new data privacy bill, S.71, signed by Gov. Phil Scott on June 16, takes effect in two years. That delay creates a gap in compliance to a bill that privacy advocates say is already too weak to protect consumers.     “Even if it were in effect, I’m not sure that it would necessarily cover the situation,” said Ryan Kriger, a Vermont lawyer and resident who testified on the bill. ‘No value, no benefit’  Kinney Drugs implemented the AI virtual assistant for patient communication and refill services in May. Soon after, its customers began to experience problems, they said.    “My first impression was it was just more complicated and cumbersome than the previous recording and service,” said Matt Penney, who’s been receiving medication at a Kinney Drugs in Vermont for around two years.  Previously, to refill a prescription at Kinney Drugs, a customer would call a prompt-based, touch-tone, phone system that would give them the opportunity to navigate a keypad to reach a pharmacist. Customers who spoke to VTDigger said this old system worked smoothly, and they had no problems.  Not so much with the new system, they said. “It’s just something that wastes time and delays customer service. As far as I’m concerned, it has absolutely no value, no benefit to the customer,” Vermont Kinney Drugs customer Dave Bellini said.  The AI assistant, which Kinney Drugs named Burt, after its founder, was built by third-party AI pharmaceutical company, Synerio. In the pharmacy’s terms, Kinney Drugs states that “Burt may not be accurate, complete or up-to-date and may be misleading or contain errors and omiss