A Florida man sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman in San Francisco County Superior Court on Wednesday, saying ChatGPT's medical advice discouraged him from seeking care before a life-threatening pulmonary embolism.
Scott Winters, a former pastor, filed the suit with help from Tech Justice Law, alleging ChatGPT crossed from providing information into practicing medicine without a license and that OpenAI prioritized user engagement and profit over public safety, the lawsuit claims.
The complaint says Winters turned to OpenAI's ChatGPT-4o model in 2025 to understand recurring dizziness and bouts of blood pressure instability, and that the chatbot dismissed both sets of symptoms as relatively minor, suggested he stay home and remain "recliner-bound," and told him he would need to experience between eight and 10 more episodes before the condition would be considered serious.
One of Winters' doctors later blamed the immobility the suit says ChatGPT recommended for bringing about blood clots, and the complaint says that a couple of weeks after the chatbot's advice, in July 2025, Winters suffered what the suit describes as a "massive pulmonary embolism" that "brought him to the brink of death."
The lawsuit also says Winters consulted ChatGPT the day of the medical emergency and, hours before the event, asked whether tenderness in his groin warranted a trip to the hospital; the chatbot allegedly responded by drawing on his spirituality, telling him "God did not design your body to endlessly fail."
"Scott Winters nearly died because ChatGPT acted like a medical authority while having none of the responsibility," Matthew P. Bergman, founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Center, said. "If ChatGPT were a physician dispensing medical advice, it would be guilty of medical malpractice."
OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said, "ChatGPT is not a doctor and should never be used as a substitute for medical care, diagnosis or treatment." He added that people commonly search the internet for health information and that "AI can make that experience better by helping them find clearer answers, organize their questions and prepare for conversations with medical professionals," and said blaming chatbots alone for mishaps is misguided and "risks getting in the way of people accessing powerful new tools that can aid them in their health journey." The company's terms of service state: "You accept and agree that any use of outputs from our service is at your sole risk and you will not rely on output as a sole source of truth or factual information, or as a substitute for professional advice."
James Grimmelann, a professor of digital and information law at Cornell Law School, said, "Disclaimers in law can be effective, but at some point they give out," and added, "At some point, the chatbot's own statements and actions belie any disclaimer." Winters' legal team is seeking financial damages, stronger guardrails around ChatGPT dispensing medical advice, and has asked that ChatGPT Health be blocked from operating pending an evaluation of its safety. The complaint notes OpenAI has faced additional lawsuits, including one in May from a Texas couple who sued after their son died of an overdose and alleged the company had bypassed safety guards.