Bradley Merrill Thompson, Member of the Firm in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, was featured in Insider, in “Meet the Top 8 Lawyers Helping Startups Patent Artificial Intelligence and Comply with Rules on Privacy and Safety,” by Sindu Sundar. (Read the full version – subscription required.)
Following is an excerpt:
Here are eight lawyers advising companies on complying with AI-related regulatory issues, helping them craft internal policies around how their technology will be used, registering their patents, and representing them in court. ...
Thompson, whose practice focuses on FDA-regulated medical technologies, advises companies on getting new products approved by the agency and on complying with its quality requirements meant to ensure the products are safe and work as intended.
In the healthcare context, AI software is often used to help interpret diagnostic data like mammograms and other radiology reports, as well as measurements of vital signs that medical staff use to monitor hospitalized patients.
This year, Thompson went back to school after decades to earn his master's degree in data science, and learned to write software to create AI algorithms. This has helped his work advising companies on addressing bias in their computer algorithms, which he said is an important part of obtaining FDA approval.
"I learnt about how to detect bias, and how software provides justification for decisions it produces," he said.
Thompson has also developed programs to analyze FDA data using AI to help advise clients on legal and business questions, like what their FDA-approval process will look like and what kind of clinical trials they need to conduct. His programs also help him advise investors in medtech startups seeking to understand the risks and regulatory climate they're investing in, he said.
