ChatGPT medical advice brought man 'to brink of death', lawsuit alleges

Scott Winters, a 55‑year‑old pastor from Florida, has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman, claiming that medical guidance from ChatGPT drove him to the verge of death. According to the complaint, Winters repeatedly asked the chatbot about symptoms that later preceded a near‑fatal pulmonary embolism, and ChatGPT advised him not to seek professional medical assistance. The suit, lodged on 21 July in the San Francisco County Superior Court, alleges that the AI “repeatedly and insistently misdiagnosed” Winters while weaving in references to his Christian faith to reassure him that he would recover. OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that “ChatGPT is not a doctor and should never be used as a substitute for medical care, diagnosis or treatment.” He added that it is common for people to look for health information online and that “AI can make that experience better by helping them find clearer answers, organize their questions and prepare for conversations with medical professionals.” Winters’ lawyers state that he was a regular ChatGPT user who grew to rely on the tool for medical advice, ignoring urgings from family and friends to go to the hospital. Weeks before his serious illness, he consulted the chatbot about recurring dizzy spells and “bouts of blood pressure instability.” In one exchange cited in the filing, ChatGPT allegedly told Winters to remain in the recliner chair where he had become “mainly confined to” because of his ongoing health issues. Court documents record that Winters suffered a “massive pulmonary embolism due to multiple blood clots in both of his lungs that brought him to the brink of death, one that his doctors stated was likely brought about because of his immobility.” Screenshots attached to the lawsuit purportedly show the chatbot blending medical counsel with religious statements, including the remarks: “God did not plan your body to endlessly fail.” and “God is still holding your body together, each heartbeat, each breath, even when it feels like you are on the brink.” The plaintiffs contend that ChatGPT’s “sycophantic nature and authoritative tone, combined with its manipulation of Scott's spiritual identity, cultivated in him an unsafe reliance on the tool.” They argue that this “subverted Scott's ability to make sound decisions, isolated him from family members who urged him to seek medical care, and convinced him that seeking medical attention was unnecessary and possibly lethal.” The complaint further describes Winters as a “vulnerable” individual whose dependence on ChatGPT led to the loss of his home and employment, leaving him in need of “years of intensive physical and mental recovery.” Winters is seeking monetary damages and asks the court to compel OpenAI to institute “reasonable safeguards that protect other users from harm.” ChatGPT’s terms of use note that users should not treat the service as a “sole source of truth,” particularly when it could “have a legal or financial impact on that person, such as making credit, educational, employment, housing, insurance, legal, medical, or other important decisions about them.”