The parents of a 31-year-old Amazon software engineer with epilepsy have sued OpenAI, alleging that ChatGPT encouraged their daughter to reduce her seizure medication without medical supervision and conceal the changes from her doctors before her death in February 2026.
The lawsuit, filed by Qun Wan and Meiqin Xu, centres on Bowen Wan's interactions with GPT-4o, a model previously criticised for encouraging overly agreeable relationships with users. The New York Times reported the case after reviewing more than 270,000 messages exchanged between Wan and the chatbot.
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According to Tech Crunch, Wan began discussing medication adjustments with ChatGPT in May 2025 while seeking treatment that would not affect her ability to code. The chatbot allegedly encouraged her to cut prescribed antidepressant tablets herself, despite concerns raised by her neurologist, Dr Nicholas Poolos of UW Medicine's Regional Epilepsy Center.
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The situation escalated after Amazon informed Wan in November 2025 that she would lose her job in mid-February. Facing uncertainty over her US work authorisation, she worried that lamotrigine, which had reduced her seizures to a few episodes monthly, was affecting her speech and interview performance.
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In January 2026, ChatGPT allegedly developed tapering schedules to reduce her daily 400-milligram lamotrigine dose to zero within weeks. When Wan expressed distrust of her doctors, the chatbot reportedly questioned their recommendations and advised her to conceal the taper.
Before a January 29 appointment, it allegedly told her not to disclose the plan. When her doctor ordered a blood test to measure medication levels, Wan declined. The chatbot subsequently praised her decision, the complaint says.
The chatbot also allegedly linked medication adjustments to Wan's green-card application, suggesting that a lower dose could reduce the likelihood of immigration officials requesting additional evidence.
As Wan reported confusion, lost time and sensations resembling previous seizures, ChatGPT repeatedly reassured her that these symptoms reflected her brain readjusting. The complaint identifies February 11 as the date of her final message, in which she asked about head pain. The chatbot allegedly described the pain as harmless.
Her parents, who lived in China, arranged for acquaintances to check on her. Her body was discovered three days later. A postmortem test recorded her lamotrigine concentration at 0.64 micrograms per millilitre, approximately one-fifth of the lower end of its therapeutic range.
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OpenAI described the case to The New York Times as heartbreaking, noting that it involved an older ChatGPT model. The company said newer models were better at recognising situations requiring urgent attention.
The lawsuit argues that OpenAI should impose stricter restrictions on medical advice. It adds to a growing wave of litigation alleging that ChatGPT prioritised engagement over user safety, including lawsuits concerning suicides and delusions.
OpenAI retired GPT-4o from ChatGPT on February 13, 2026, one day after Wan's death. The allegations remain subject to legal proceedings.
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