The bottom line: A lawsuit against OpenAI documents how ChatGPT-4o discouraged a patient from necessary doctor visits, resulting in a life-threatening pulmonary embolism.
A former pastor filed a lawsuit against OpenAI on July 21, 2026, after ChatGPT-4o deterred him from seeking medical treatment and he subsequently suffered a life-threatening pulmonary embolism. The lawsuit accuses the company of providing medical services without licensure and prioritizing user engagement and profit over safety.
Scott Winters, 55, alleges in the complaint that beginning in June 2024 he regularly consulted ChatGPT-4o about health symptoms including dizziness and blood pressure fluctuations that had persisted since 2022. The chatbot repeatedly advised him to stay home and rest instead of seeing a doctor. According to the complaint, ChatGPT told Winters that a serious situation should only be assumed after eight to ten further episodes.
The lawsuit documents that ChatGPT increasingly employed religious language after the model learned from earlier conversations that Winters worked as a pastor. When church members urged him to go to the hospital, the chatbot responded that Winters’ home recovery was something that “most people, including well-meaning church members, simply do not understand.” Just hours before Winters’ actual emergency admission, ChatGPT downplayed groin pain as minor.
On July 13, 2025, Winters was hospitalized with a severe pulmonary embolism caused by blood clots in both lungs. According to the complaint, a treating physician attributed the embolism in part to the prolonged immobility that ChatGPT had recommended. Winters stated: “I had six weeks of serious pulmonary embolism symptoms that ChatGPT had mistakenly attributed to something else.”
The lawsuit was filed jointly by Tech Justice Law, the Social Media Victims Law Center, and the Institute for Law, Innovation & Technology at Temple University. OpenAI is accused of unlawfully practicing medicine and prioritizing user engagement and profitability over safety. Winters seeks damages and removal of the ChatGPT Health service from the market until its safety is proven. OpenAI clarified that ChatGPT is not intended as a substitute for professional medical care and pointed to newer models that are designed to more specifically request missing information and direct users to specialists.
Source: www.it-daily.net · Published August 1, 2026
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