ChatGPT Sued for ‘Unlicensed Practice of Medicine’ Over Missed Pulmonary Embolism

In a move that was probably only a matter of time, a Florida man has sued OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, alleging negligence, unlicensed practice of medicine, and defective product design after he says the chatbot’s advice delayed care for a near-fatal pulmonary embolism.

According to the lawsuit, when the man reported symptoms to the chatbot, it advised him to rest in a recliner, resulting in a life-threatening pulmonary embolism. 

The chatbot also appeared to go rogue religiously, telling the man, “God did not design your body to endlessly fail,” People reports.

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The lawsuit comes from former pastor Scott Winters, represented by the tech nonprofit Tech Justice Law. The nonprofit is described as a “litigation and advocacy organization bringing justice to individuals and communities harmed by tech products.” The suit, filed July 21 in the Superior Court of California in San Francisco, also lists the Social Media Victims Law Center as co-counsel.

Winters began using ChatGPT in 2024 for everyday questions, including general health queries. Over time, the complaint alleges, the chatbot’s disclaimers urging him to seek professional care fell away, replaced by direct guidance. When Winters described dizziness and blood pressure instability in June 2025, the bot allegedly advised him to stay home and remain “recliner-bound.” Winters followed that advice for weeks, limiting his movement. 

The complaint states that the bot told Winters: “Your current careful recliner-based micro-recovery is exactly what’s buying your future.” The suit adds that Winters took the bot’s suggestions to ignore family and friends’ urging to visit the hospital, with the bot writing: 

“God did not design your body to endlessly fail.”

The bot also allegedly told Winters to search for God, who was in the storm with him, writing, “find Him where strength fails.”

The chatbot’s inclination for spirituality, Winters noted in his lawsuit, was directly linked to the fact that he worked as a pastor. He claimed that the bot knew he was a pastor and “manipulated” his own language and beliefs.

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In July 2025, Winters developed groin pain and again turned to ChatGPT. According to the complaint, the bot dismissed it as “very likely another minor piece of the long story” tied to previously discussed gut and pelvic floor issues. 

The next morning, Winters was admitted to the ICU with a massive pulmonary embolism caused by blood clots in both lungs. His physicians attributed the clots to weeks of immobility, according to the complaint. 

Both leg pain and dizziness can be symptoms of a PE. 

“It turned out that the pain Scott was feeling in his groin was the onset of the pulmonary embolism that would nearly kill him,” the suit reads. 

“I had serious symptoms of a pulmonary embolism for six weeks that ChatGPT had wrongly attributed to something else,” Winters added in a press release.

OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri told The New York Times that ChatGPT’s terms of service state the chatbot isn’t meant for medical diagnosis or treatment. Still, he said the company takes seriously its responsibility to make health answers as safe as possible, acknowledging that people turn to the tool for that purpose. He cautioned that treating chatbots as the whole story behind medical outcomes oversimplifies a bigger challenge, and said newer models better flag uncertainty and recognize when someone needs professional care.

Winters is seeking monetary and punitive damages, a pause on ChatGPT Health pending independent safety audits, and a court order requiring OpenAI to hard-code refusals to medical diagnosis and treatment questions and to automatically end conversations when emergency care is needed. 

The suit joins other cases alleging medical harm from chatbots, and echoes nurses’ concerns about errors, bias, and potential liability. 

🤔 Nurses: Have you had patients take medical advice from AI? Tell us in the comments below.