Scott Winters turned to ChatGPT to explain his dizzy spells that once forced the Florida pastor to stop mid-sermon. Over time, the chatbot stopped recommending he see a doctor and instead told him his symptoms were “not something dangerous,” even telling him to trust that “God did not design your body to endlessly fail.” Winters spent weeks stuck in a recliner before he was hospitalized in July 2025 with a life-threatening pulmonary embolism, the New York Times reports.
He’s now suing OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman in San Francisco Superior Court, accusing the company of negligence and the “unauthorized practice of medicine.” It’s reportedly the first lawsuit claiming a chatbot’s health advice directly harmed someone seeking medical guidance.
The case lands just as OpenAI pushes deeper into health tools like ChatGPT Health. An OpenAI spokesman said the chatbot isn’t intended for diagnosis or treatment, but that the company takes health-related safety seriously. As AI increasingly stands in for medical advice, especially for people who can’t easily see a doctor, the case raises real questions about who’s liable when that advice goes wrong.
Best_Sail5160 on July 24th, 2026 at 19:13 UTC »
Unfortunately AI couldn’t cure his stupidity and lack of common sense.
cjwi on July 24th, 2026 at 18:44 UTC »
Obviously the reddit commenter who the AI is parroting should be held criminally liable
DJLowZ on July 24th, 2026 at 17:58 UTC »
On one hand, anyone taking medical advice from these shitty AIs is not smart. On the other hand, AIs should not be dispensing medical advice of any kind. Lots of stupid going on here.