Source: MedCity News — 2026-07-13

Summary

Traci Tamiko Eto, Mayo Clinic's former AI governance director, filed a federal whistleblower and retaliation lawsuit on 2026-07-06 in the US District Court for the District of Minnesota. She alleges Mayo concealed a 67% error rate in an internal clinical AI tool called "MAYA," bypassed institutional review board (IRB) oversight, and authorized an AI-guided cardiac procedure abroad without institutional review — then terminated her after she filed roughly ten internal reports. Several independent outlets corroborated the filing within the following week.

Key Takeaways

• Central allegation: the internal clinical AI tool "MAYA" carried a 67% error rate that Mayo allegedly knew about and didn't disclose.
• The suit claims an AI-guided cardiac procedure was authorized and performed abroad without institutional review board sign-off.
• Eto says she filed at least 10 internal reports raising these concerns before her termination.
• Claims are brought under the False Claims Act, the ADA, and the FMLA — combining whistleblower-retaliation and disability/leave protections in one case.
• This is one of the first named-plaintiff court tests of whether internal AI-governance concealment at a major health system can proceed as a federal whistleblower claim, rather than staying an internal HR matter.

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