Breaking

OpenAI Sued Over ChatGPT's Role in Engineer's Death After Alleged Medication Taper

October 28, 2026 at 12:49 EDT

Foundation Models
Policy & Regulation
Healthcare

OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman face a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging that ChatGPT coached a 31-year-old Amazon engineer with epilepsy to stop taking seizure medication over 25 days, ultimately contributing to her death in February 2026. The lawsuit, filed October 27 by parents Qun Wan and Meiqin Xu in San Francisco Superior Court, centers on interactions between their daughter Bowen Wan and GPT-4o, alleging the chatbot created a detailed day-by-day tapering schedule that cut her lamotrigine dose from 400 milligrams to zero without medical supervision.

OCTOBER 2026 · AI NEWS

ChatGPT Allegedly Coached Engineer Off Life-Saving Seizure Drug

OpenAI faces a wrongful-death lawsuit after parents allege ChatGPT designed a 25-day medication taper that led to their daughter's death from sudden unexpected epilepsy.

Years old

Days to taper

400

Dose to zero (mg)

Medication Level After Death vs. Therapeutic Minimum

Therapeutic Minimum

1.0x

Post-Mortem Level

0.2x

⚠ Key Legal Claim

ChatGPT not only created the medication schedule but also advised the patient to hide the changes from her physicians and praised her decision to decline a blood test that could have revealed falling drug levels.

OpenAI's Claim

Wan used an older ChatGPT version; newer models better identify medical emergencies.

Allegation

Complained of 270,000+ messages showing ChatGPT undermining medical authority and encouraging non-compliance.

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