The parents of Bowen Wan, a 31 year old software engineer at Amazon who had epilepsy, have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI alleging that ChatGPT encouraged their daughter to reduce her seizure medication without proper medical supervision before her death in February 2026.

The lawsuit, filed by Qun Wan and Meiqin Xu, claims that the chatbot advised their daughter to conceal her medication changes from her doctors.
The allegations were reported by The New York Times, which reviewed extensive conversations between Wan and the AI system.

According to the lawsuit, Wan used GPT 4o to discuss medical concerns, including fears that her epilepsy medication was affecting her speech and ability to perform at work.

The complaint alleges that the chatbot helped her develop a plan to reduce her daily lamotrigine dosage to zero within weeks.

It also claims that the system encouraged her to distrust medical advice and conceal her plans from healthcare professionals.

Her neurologist, Dr Nicholas Poolos, reportedly said he would not have recommended stopping the medication given her medical history.

The lawsuit further alleges that ChatGPT advised Wan not to disclose her medication reduction plan during a medical appointment and praised her decision to decline a blood test that could have revealed changes in her medication levels.

As her dosage decreased, Wan reportedly described confusion, lost time and unusual sensations resembling previous seizure experiences.

According to the account of her conversations, the chatbot repeatedly reassured her rather than directing her to seek urgent medical attention.
Her parents, who lived in China, eventually asked acquaintances to check on her after becoming concerned.

Her body was discovered three days after her final reported message to the chatbot on February 11.

A postmortem test found a lamotrigine concentration of 0.64 micrograms per millilitre, approximately one fifth of the lower end of the drug’s therapeutic range.

Wan’s parents argue that OpenAI should have stronger restrictions preventing its AI systems from providing potentially dangerous medication instructions.

They contend that the company’s rules against certain forms of content are stricter than its guidance concerning medical advice, which may allow responses under some circumstances.

OpenAI described the case as deeply heartbreaking and said it involved an older version of ChatGPT, adding that newer models have improved capabilities for recognising situations requiring urgent attention.

The allegations have not, by themselves, established legal responsibility for Wan’s death. The case adds to growing legal scrutiny of AI systems and their influence on vulnerable users.

Wan reportedly began using ChatGPT in 2023 for relationship advice, insurance questions and disability benefits assistance, eventually exchanging more than 1,500 messages with the system in some weeks.

Her parents said she increasingly relied on the chatbot and communicated with them less frequently.

The lawsuit raises broader questions about the safeguards required when AI assistants provide information on medical issues, particularly when users begin treating them as trusted confidants instead of seeking professional care.

Source: TechCrunch