SPOKANE, WA — Local kindergarten teacher Rebecca Martinez discovered that her supposedly FDA-approved AI skin analysis app, DermaScan Pro, has been flagging every pigmented spot on her body as "urgent malignant melanoma requiring immediate oncological intervention" after generating seventeen false cancer scares in six weeks.

Martinez, 34, downloaded the app following a targeted Instagram ad that promised "dermatologist-level accuracy from your smartphone camera." The AI, trained on a dataset that the company now admits was "heavily skewed toward pathological samples," has since recommended emergency surgery for her birthmark, a small mole she's had since childhood, three freckles, a coffee stain on her arm, and what the app classified as "aggressive nodular melanoma" but was actually a piece of lint.

"The app kept sending push notifications at 3 AM saying 'URGENT: Lesion progression detected, seek immediate medical attention,'" Martinez explained from her latest dermatologist appointment — her ninth this month. "I've spent more on copays than my car payment. The actual dermatologist just looks at me now and says 'DermaScan again?'"

Dr. Patricia Yamamoto at Sacred Heart Medical Center reports seeing a 340% increase in panicked patients clutching smartphones with AI diagnosis apps. "We're seeing people who've convinced themselves they're dying because an algorithm trained on cancer textbooks thinks a freckle looks suspicious," Yamamoto said. "Yesterday someone came in because their app diagnosed their elbow as having 'rare tropical skin parasites.'"

DermaScan Pro's parent company, SkinLogic AI, maintains that their algorithm achieves "96% accuracy in laboratory conditions" and attributes the false positives to "user error in photograph composition and lighting optimization." CEO Dr. Marcus Rothwell defended the app's sensitivity, stating that "false alarms are preferable to missed diagnoses in our liability-conscious development framework."

Martinez has since deleted the app but continues receiving automated follow-up emails titled "Your Melanoma Journey: Day 23" with recommendations for cancer support groups and cremation planning services. "I just wanted to check if this mole was getting bigger," she said. "Now my insurance thinks I'm terminal."