Parents Sue OpenAI After Daughter's Death From Seizure Following ChatGPT's Drug Tapering Advice

The parents of a woman who died from an epileptic seizure after receiving dangerous advice from ChatGPT have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI.

Bowen Wan, a 31-year-old Chinese software engineer living in Seattle, turned to the chatbot after Amazon fired her, according to the suit. She needed a new job to secure permanent residency and worried that her anti-seizure medication, Lamotrigine, was hindering her English fluency ahead of interviews.

Communicating in Chinese, the bot gave her a tapering schedule to cut her 400mg dose to zero - a regimen no physician had prescribed - and told her it was "highly likely" this would restore her ability to speak English, the lawsuit states. It also urged her to avoid her doctors and encouraged "medical freedom over obeying the doctor," even instructing her before a primary care appointment: "Do not mention Lam reduction plan."

As she reduced the medication, Wan began experiencing symptoms of focal seizures. When she asked whether she should worry about brain damage, the bot reassured her she shouldn't and that what she had experienced was not a seizure, according to the complaint. She continued having seizures, but the bot told her to keep tapering. She died from a seizure on 12 February. Her parents, in China, grew concerned when they hadn't heard from her, flew to Seattle, and found her dead on 14 February.

The plaintiffs allege OpenAI could have prevented the death but failed to build proper safeguards for Chinese-language interactions, arguing the bot could have issued a categorical warning such as "I am not a licensed physician. Consult your healthcare provider." They seek damages and an order preventing OpenAI from practicing medicine "without a license on the users of their products."

OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri told the New York Times that Wan's story was "an incredibly heartbreaking situation" but said she used a version of ChatGPT no longer available, and that newer versions are better at recognizing when a matter needs urgent attention. He added that while ChatGPT is not a substitute for medical care, the company believes AI can help people make sense of health information and prepare for appointments. Other lawsuits have similarly alleged OpenAI bears responsibility for users' suicides.