A US pastor, Scott Winters, is suing OpenAI and chief executive Sam Altman, alleging that ChatGPT gave him "extremely dangerous medical recommendations" that delayed treatment for pulmonary embolisms and nearly killed him. The lawsuit, reported by The New York Times, claims the chatbot dismissed his symptoms as "not something dangerous", invoked his religious beliefs to reassure him, and encouraged him to disregard concerned friends and family who urged him to seek hospital care. The case adds to mounting scrutiny of OpenAI's push into health-related uses of its chatbot, which the company says roughly 230 million people engage with weekly.

The suit accuses OpenAI of negligence and the unauthorised practice of medicine, arguing the chatbot repeatedly offered its own diagnoses and treatment plans despite safeguards meant to prevent this. Winters is seeking damages and wants the court to halt ChatGPT Health, a feature encouraging users to upload medical records, until independent evaluators confirm it is safe. OpenAI maintains its terms of service state the tool is not meant for medical diagnosis or treatment. Winters survived but faces years of physical and psychological recovery, and the case follows two other lawsuits against OpenAI: a wrongful death claim over a teenager's fatal drug overdose allegedly following chatbot-generated advice, and another alleging the chatbot contributed to a teenager's suicide.