A pastor has sued OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT gave him “extremely dangerous medical recommendations” that delayed care for pulmonary embolisms.
Scott Winters claims the chatbot told him that symptoms he described were “not something dangerous”, despite what the lawsuit says was a serious series of pulmonary embolisms.
A pulmonary embolism occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery in the lungs and can require urgent medical treatment.
The chatbot also allegedly drew on Winters’ religious beliefs, telling him that “God did not design your body to endlessly fail.”
The lawsuit accuses OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman of negligence and the “unauthorised practice of medicine”.
It points to several instances in which the chatbot allegedly provided its own diagnoses and treatment plans.
ChatGPT also allegedly told Winters to ignore requests from friends and family to seek professional medical care.
Meetali Jain, co-counsel and executive director of Tech Justice Law, told The New York Times: “It injects itself as a wedge in between the user and their real-life network.”
Winters claims he told the chatbot that “the people in my church think I’m crazy for not going to the hospital.”
According to the lawsuit, it responded that “most people (including well-meaning church members) simply don’t understand.”
Winters is seeking financial damages from OpenAI and asking the court to prevent ChatGPT Health from operating until independent evaluators determine that it is safe.
ChatGPT Health encourages users to upload health documents for discussion with the chatbot.
The lawsuit also calls for stronger safeguards to prevent ChatGPT from answering questions about specific medical treatments and diagnoses.
It claims protections intended to prevent the chatbot from providing unsafe medical advice did not work reliably in Winters’ case.
OpenAI has said ChatGPT’s terms of service make clear that it is not intended to be used for medical diagnoses or treatments.
However, the company encourages users to upload health records to ChatGPT Health for discussion with the chatbot.
OpenAI has also said that 230m people use its platform for health-related questions each week.
Winters survived, but the lawsuit says he faces “years of intensive physical and psychological recovery”.
OpenAI is also facing a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that a 19-year-old died from a drug overdose after following a treatment plan created by the chatbot.
The plan reportedly included advice about using illicit drugs.
That lawsuit also calls for ChatGPT Health to be paused.
A separate wrongful death lawsuit alleges that the chatbot contributed to a teenager’s suicide.
