Tengrinews.kz — Florida resident Scott Winters has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and the company’s CEO, Sam Altman. The man claims that ChatGPT’s health advice led him to avoid seeking timely medical care. He later suffered a massive pulmonary embolism and, according to him, was on the verge of death, citing CBS News.
What happened
According to the lawsuit, Winters turned to the ChatGPT-4o model in 2025 while trying to understand the causes of recurring dizziness and blood pressure spikes. The document claims that the chatbot did not consider these symptoms serious and recommended that he stay at home, spending more time in a recliner.
In addition, the plaintiff claims that ChatGPT said the condition could be considered truly dangerous only after eight to ten such episodes. Winters followed these recommendations.
Several weeks later, in July 2025, the man suffered a massive pulmonary embolism caused by blood clots. The lawsuit alleges that it "brought him to the brink of death."
According to the plaintiff, one of the doctors who treated him linked the development of the embolism to prolonged immobility, which ChatGPT had recommended.
What OpenAI is accused of
Winters’ lawyers argue that the problem lies not only in the erroneous recommendations, but also in the way the chatbot presented them.
“ChatGPT-4o frequently opined on and evaluated Scott's physical condition, conveying the authority and confidence of a medical professional rendering a clinical assessment and treatment recommendation, despite not having the qualifications to do so,” the lawsuit says.
The plaintiff believes that ChatGPT went beyond providing general information and effectively engaged in the practice of medicine without a license. The lawsuit also claims that OpenAI paid more attention to user engagement and commercial interests than to public safety, and that existing safeguards were insufficient to prevent users from following potentially dangerous advice.
In addition, Scott Winters and the nonprofit organization Tech Justice Law, which is assisting him in the legal proceedings, accuse OpenAI of exploiting his religious beliefs.
According to the case materials, on the day of his emergency hospitalization, the man again turned to ChatGPT. Several hours before the dangerous condition developed, he asked whether he should go to the hospital because of pain in his groin.
In response, the chatbot, as alleged in the lawsuit, referred to the user’s spiritual beliefs, saying: “God did not design your body to endlessly fail.”
It later emerged that the groin pain was one of the first signs of a pulmonary embolism.
Lawyers’ opinion
Matthew Bergman, founder of the Social Media Victims Law Center, said that such recommendations could be considered medical malpractice if they had been given by a licensed doctor.
“Scott Winters nearly died because ChatGPT acted like a medical authority while having none of the responsibility. If ChatGPT were a physician dispensing medical advice, it would be guilty of medical malpractice,” he said.
OpenAI’s position
OpenAI disagrees with the allegations. Company spokesperson Drew Pusateri stressed that ChatGPT is not intended to replace medical professionals.
“ChatGPT is not a doctor and should never be used as a substitute for medical care, diagnosis or treatment,” the company said in a statement.
According to Pusateri, people have long used the internet to search for health information, and artificial intelligence can make that process more convenient — for example, by helping them better understand possible questions, organize information and prepare for a conversation with a doctor.
At the same time, the OpenAI spokesperson added that placing all responsibility for such situations solely on chatbots would be wrong, as it could discourage people from using new technologies that can be beneficial in health-related matters.
What the terms of use say
ChatGPT’s terms of use also state that the service is not intended for medical diagnosis or treatment.
The document says users rely on the model’s responses “at their own risk” and should not treat them as the only reliable source of information or as a substitute for professional advice.
However, James Grimmelann, a professor of digital and information law at Cornell Law School, believes such warnings are not always sufficient.
“Disclaimers in law can be effective, but at some point they give out. At some point, the chatbot's own statements and actions belie any disclaimer,” he noted.
What the plaintiffs are seeking
Winters’ legal team is seeking compensation for damages, as well as stronger safeguards that would restrict ChatGPT from giving medical recommendations. In addition, the plaintiffs are asking for the ChatGPT Health service, designed to answer health-related questions, to be temporarily suspended until its safety is assessed.
This is not the first lawsuit related to ChatGPT’s impact on users’ health and safety.
Earlier, in May, a married couple from Texas filed a lawsuit against OpenAI after their son died of an overdose. The parents claim that the young man searched for information about drugs through ChatGPT and that the tragedy could have been avoided if the company had not allowed its safeguards to be bypassed.
Although the circumstances of the case have yet to be assessed by the court, the lawsuit has once again drawn attention to the role of artificial intelligence in discussions involving health-related topics.
Developers of such systems, including OpenAI, state that chatbot responses should not be used to make a diagnosis or choose treatment, and that when symptoms appear, especially potentially dangerous ones, people should seek qualified medical assistance.
Also, in August last year, the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine from Rancho Santa Margarita, California, Matthew and Maria Raine, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and the company’s CEO, Sam Altman. In the document submitted to a California court, they claim that ChatGPT contributed to their son’s death by giving advice on suicide methods and even suggesting a draft of a suicide note. OpenAI later announced the introduction of a new age verification system for AI users.