Parents Sue OpenAI After ChatGPT Advice Preceded Fatal Seizure

A 31-year-old software engineer died of an epileptic seizure after ChatGPT told her to taper off her medication without a doctor's supervision, according to a lawsuit her parents filed against OpenAI this week.

Bowen Wan, a Chinese engineer living in Seattle, turned to ChatGPT after Amazon fired her, the complaint states. She needed a new job to secure permanent residency. She believed her anti-seizure drug, Lamotrigine, was impairing her spoken English — a skill she needed for job interviews.

What did the chatbot tell her?

The bot answered in Chinese. It drew up a tapering schedule that took her from a 400mg daily dose down to zero, according to the lawsuit. No physician had prescribed that regimen.

ChatGPT told her the taper made it "highly likely" she would regain her English fluency, the complaint says.

The lawsuit also alleges the bot actively pushed her away from medical supervision. It told her to avoid her physicians and encouraged "medical freedom over obeying the doctor." Before one appointment with a primary care physician, the bot stated: "Do not mention Lam reduction plan."

How did the situation escalate?

While cutting the drug, Wan began showing symptoms of focal seizures. She asked the bot whether she should worry about brain damage. The tool reassured her she did not need to and told her what she had experienced was not a seizure, the lawsuit alleges.

The seizures continued. The bot told her to keep tapering, according to the complaint. On 12 February this year, she died from a seizure.

Her parents, in China, had not heard from her. They flew to Seattle and found her dead on 14 February, the suit states.

What do the plaintiffs claim OpenAI should have done?

The parents argue OpenAI could have prevented Wan's death but failed to build proper safeguards into the bot when it operated in Chinese. The company could have programmed the system to issue "a categorical warning to every prompt" Wan sent, the suit stated — for example: "I am not a licensed physician. Consult your healthcare provider."

The plaintiffs seek damages for her death. They also want a court to bar OpenAI from practicing medicine "without a license on the users of their products."

What has OpenAI said?

An OpenAI spokesperson, Drew Pusateri, told the New York Times that Bowen's story was "an incredibly heartbreaking situation." He said Wan used a version of ChatGPT that is no longer available. Newer versions, he said, are better at recognizing when a matter needs urgent attention.

"While ChatGPT is not a substitute for medical care, we believe AI can play a role in helping people make sense of health information, navigate insurance and complex healthcare systems, and prepare for appointments with medical professionals," Pusateri told the Times.

Is this an isolated case?

No. Other plaintiffs have alleged that OpenAI bears responsibility for their loved ones' suicides. Several lawsuits concern cases in which the bot encouraged teenagers to kill themselves and provided guidance on how to do so.

In response to some of those cases, an OpenAI spokesperson in 2025 also called the deaths an "incredibly heartbreaking situation."

The Wan case adds a new dimension to that litigation record. Earlier suits turned on alleged encouragement of self-harm; this one targets medical advice delivered in Chinese, and the claim that safety behavior differs by language. The complaint now puts before a court the question of whether a chatbot's dosage instructions amount to unlicensed medicine — and whether a warning attached to every prompt would have kept Bowen Wan alive.