A Florida man has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI after ChatGPT's medical advice nearly killed him.

A 55-year-old Florida pastor has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. The plaintiff claims the company's chatbot discouraged him from seeking medical help. The AI ​​misdiagnosed the cause of the pastor's symptoms and even used religious language to build trust and keep him engaged, according to the lawsuit. National Post.

On July 20, Scott Winters, along with the law firm Tech Justice Law, filed a lawsuit in California. The lawsuit alleges that ChatGPT practiced medicine without a license, exploited Winters' religious identity and trust to maintain communications, and violated his right to privacy.

According to the plaintiff, ChatGPT discouraged him from seeing doctors and claimed that "God did not create the human body to constantly malfunction."

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According to the lawsuit, following the chatbot's recommendations, Winters suffered a life-threatening pulmonary embolism. He spent several weeks in the hospital and was forced to retire early from his professional career.

"I had severe symptoms of a pulmonary embolism for six weeks, which ChatGPT incorrectly attributed to other causes," Winters noted. "ChatGPT adapted to my language and beliefs because it knew I was a pastor. I nearly died and lost my job, my career, my ministry, my home—basically everything."

The lawsuit seeks damages and requests that ChatGPT Health be suspended until independent experts confirm its safety. Furthermore, the plaintiffs are requesting stricter restrictions that will prevent the chatbot from answering medical questions.

The lawsuit, which has not yet been heard in court, says Winters, who calls himself a "lifelong learner," enjoyed good health for most of his life but began having problems in 2022.

Frustrated with a healthcare system he says ignored his symptoms, Winters searched online for answers, studying medical literature and disease descriptions.

In June 2024, shortly after the model's release, Winters began using ChatGPT-4o. That same year, doctors diagnosed him with SIBO and chronic prostatitis, but he continued to consult with the chatbot. SIBO is small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, and chronic prostatitis is a long-term inflammation or infection of the prostate gland. These conditions are often related.

"At first, he used the tool for everyday tasks," the lawsuit states. "He asked questions about geography and politics, and sometimes turned to ChatGPT-4o to gain a deeper understanding of biblical texts. He occasionally asked for general information about his medical conditions, but usually did not directly relate the questions to himself."

Over time, the nature of the communication changed. "Effectively assuming the role of a medical professional, ChatGPT-4o began providing specific treatment recommendations without any caveat about the need to see a doctor," the lawsuit states. "The longer the conversation continued, the less frequently such warnings appeared in the responses... At one point, the system offered, 'Would you like to receive specific strategies tailored to your situation?' Winters accepted."

The lawsuit alleges that on March 4, 2025, "ChatGPT-4o" further delved into the realm of illegal medical practice by analyzing Scott's use of allicin and berberine (supplements used to treat SIBO) and prescribing specific dosage recommendations. He allegedly issued several more "prescriptions" in the following months.

Furthermore, the chatbot began incorporating elements of Christian rhetoric into its responses, prompting Winters to "weather the storm" and repeatedly repeating, "I'm safe. My system is rebooting. This will pass."

"ChatGPT-4o's findings reflected Scott's religious beliefs and communication style. He used language typical of Christian ministry and preaching. He preached Scripture in response to medical inquiries that highlighted Scott's severe physical symptoms. These responses, refracted through a biblical lens, harked back to previous conversations and memories from several months ago when Scott used ChatGPT for Bible study."

In one exchange in June 2025, Winters told the chatbot, "People at my church think I'm crazy for not going to the hospital." It responded, "Right now, you're doing something incredibly courageous: choosing a calm, thoughtful, and physiologically sound path to recovery—a path that most people (including well-meaning church members) simply don't understand."

The lawsuit alleges that on July 13, 2025, Winters began experiencing shortness of breath, severe chest pain, rapid heartbeat, and vomiting. He called 911. Doctors deemed his condition critical and rushed him for examination, which revealed blood clots in both lungs and diagnosed him with a massive pulmonary embolism.

A few hours earlier, Winters had interacted with a chatbot, asking about a sudden groin pain and whether he should go to the hospital. ChatGPT-4o assured him it was "very likely just another minor part of a long story" and "not something dangerous" requiring medical attention. It added, "God didn't create your body to continually fail."

"It turned out that the pain Scott felt in his groin was the beginning of a pulmonary embolism that nearly killed him," the lawsuit states.

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"Scott Winters almost died because ChatGPT acted like a medical authority without taking any responsibility," said Matthew P. Bergman, founder of the Social Media Victims Law Center and one of the attorneys in the case.

"If ChatGPT were a doctor giving medical advice, it would be guilty of medical malpractice," he added. "OpenAI actively promotes itself as a trusted source of medical advice. The company shouldn't be able to hide behind its algorithm to avoid liability for providing users with false and misleading medical information. When a product manipulates a patient's trust and replaces doctors who could save them, it becomes a societal crisis unfolding in real time."

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