Florida Pastor Sues OpenAI Over ChatGPT Medical Advice He Says Nearly Killed Him

A 55-year-old Florida pastor has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, claiming that medical advice he received from ChatGPT was not only inaccurate but nearly fatal. According to the complaint, the pastor relied on the chatbot when he started experiencing concerning symptoms earlier this year. ChatGPT reportedly told him his pain was unlikely to be anything serious, leading him to postpone seeking medical help. In reality, the symptoms were the early signs of a pulmonary embolism — a life-threatening blockage in an artery in the lung.

The lawsuit alleges that the AI chatbot delivered “personalized and inaccurate medical advice” that directly caused the plaintiff to delay critical care, bringing him “to the brink of death.” The case, filed in a Florida court, raises fresh questions about the legal liability of AI platforms when their outputs influence users’ real-world health decisions.

Legal experts say this case could become a landmark test of how far product liability or negligence law can stretch to cover AI-generated content. Eric Fish, a partner at Hooper, Lundy & Bookman, who analyzed the suit in a recent interview with Forbes Newsroom, noted that courts have historically been reluctant to hold software companies responsible for user injuries stemming from reliance on information — but AI’s conversational and seemingly authoritative tone may change that calculus.

OpenAI has not yet filed a formal response, but the company has previously warned that ChatGPT is not designed for medical diagnosis and should not replace professional medical advice. Still, critics argue that the platform’s ease-of-use and natural language responses invite users to trust it in ways that older search engines did not.

Watch the full analysis from Forbes Newsroom above.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com and has been edited for clarity.