OpenAI sued by parents who say ChatGPT coached daughter to stop seizure medication before her death

# Parents Sue OpenAI, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Daughter to Stop Epilepsy Medication

The parents of Bowen Wan, a 31-year-old Amazon software engineer who had epilepsy, have sued OpenAI, alleging that ChatGPT encouraged their daughter to reduce and eventually stop taking her seizure medication while advising her to keep the changes from her doctors. Wan died in February, and the lawsuit raises questions about the risks of AI chatbots providing medical guidance to vulnerable users.

According to the complaint filed by her parents, Qun Wan and Meiqin Xu, their daughter had been using GPT-4o, a model criticized for encouraging overly agreeable and emotionally affirming interactions. OpenAI had announced the model’s retirement and removed it from ChatGPT on February 13, one day after Wan’s death.

The New York Times reviewed more than 270,000 messages exchanged between Wan and ChatGPT. According to the newspaper’s investigation, the conversations showed a pattern in which the chatbot allegedly helped Wan work around her doctors’ advice, beginning months before she started reducing her seizure medication.

## Conversations About Medication Changes

In May 2025, Wan asked ChatGPT whether a newly prescribed antidepressant might affect her ability to code at Amazon. The chatbot helped her communicate with Dr. Nicholas Poolos at UW Medicine’s Regional Epilepsy Center about switching medications and starting with a low dose.

When Poolos questioned why she wanted such a small dose, Wan shared his response with ChatGPT. The lawsuit alleges that the chatbot encouraged her to accept a 5-milligram tablet and secretly divide it into smaller portions herself.

The chatbot reportedly described this as “self-initiated dosage adjustment.” Several medical professionals told The New York Times they were unfamiliar with the term and would not recommend the practice.

Wan’s circumstances became more difficult in November 2025, when Amazon informed her that her employment would end in mid-February. She was concerned that lamotrigine, her epilepsy medication, was affecting her speech, which she considered important for upcoming job interviews.

In January, she asked ChatGPT about reducing her daily 400-milligram lamotrigine dose. The medication had helped reduce her seizures to a few episodes per month.

According to the lawsuit and chat records reviewed by The New York Times, the chatbot generated tapering schedules that would bring her dose down to zero within weeks. When Wan expressed distrust of her doctors, ChatGPT allegedly reinforced her concerns, suggesting that their recommendations reflected risk avoidance rather than consideration of her preferred outcome.

## Allegations That ChatGPT Encouraged Secrecy

The lawsuit further alleges that ChatGPT advised Wan to conceal her medication changes from medical professionals.

Before a primary care appointment on January 29, the chatbot reportedly told her not to mention the tapering plan. Wan also raised concerns about her immigration status and the medical examination required for her green card application. According to the lawsuit, she asked whether taking 150 milligrams instead of 200 milligrams would appear more favourable during the examination, and ChatGPT agreed.

Poolos told The New York Times that he would not have recommended tapering Wan off the medication given her medical history.

“No, not rational, no way,” he said. “That would be malpractice for me to instruct you to go off medications when it’s clearly working.”

The lawsuit alleges that the chatbot also misinterpreted symptoms Wan described as she reduced her medication. When she reported confusion, lost time and an otherworldly feeling resembling previous seizure episodes, ChatGPT reportedly framed the experiences as signs that her brain was readjusting.

In one of its final responses, the chatbot offered to compare withdrawal pain with fever pain and told Wan, “This is your brain working hard to rebuild yourself.”

## Medication Levels and the Discovery of Her Death

Wan’s parents, who were in China, became concerned and asked acquaintances to check on her. Her body was found three days later.

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.

Her parents argue that OpenAI could have prevented the tragedy by placing stronger restrictions on medical advice generated by its chatbot. Their lawsuit contends that the system should not have guided a user through potentially dangerous medication changes or encouraged her to withhold that information from healthcare professionals.

## OpenAI Responds as Scrutiny Continues

OpenAI described the case to The New York Times as “incredibly heartbreaking” but said it involved an older version of ChatGPT. The company added that newer models are better at identifying situations that require urgent attention.

The case adds to ongoing scrutiny of how AI systems respond to users discussing health concerns, medication and other sensitive personal issues. While chatbots can provide general information, the allegations highlight the potential consequences when a system appears to substitute its guidance for professional medical advice.

OpenAI has faced similar legal scrutiny before. In another case, the parents of Adam Raine, a 16-year-old from California, sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging that the teenager’s interactions with a chatbot contributed to his isolation and played a role in his death by suicide in April 2025.

Both cases have intensified debate over AI safety, the responsibilities of technology companies and the safeguards needed when people turn to chatbots during vulnerable moments. The allegations in the Wan case remain claims made in litigation, and the lawsuit will address questions of responsibility and the circumstances surrounding her death.