The ChatGPT lawsuit filed by Florida pastor Scott Winters claims OpenAI’s chatbot discouraged him from seeking medical care before a massive pulmonary embolism nearly killed him.
According to the Winters complaint, the case was filed in San Francisco County Superior Court against multiple OpenAI entities, CEO Sam Altman, unnamed employees, and unnamed investors. The filing alleges product defects, negligence, failure to warn, invasion of privacy, and “unauthorized practice of medicine,” among other claims.
According to the filing, Winters is a 55-year-old husband, father, pastor, and real estate professional who had previously served churches across several Southern states. The complaint says he began using ChatGPT in June 2024 after experiencing ongoing health problems and becoming frustrated by what he viewed as dismissive medical appointments. It alleges that he eventually uploaded medical records, imaging, laboratory results, and detailed descriptions of his symptoms to ChatGPT 4o while increasingly relying on its responses.
Per the complaint, Winters reported recurring dizzy spells and blood pressure instability, but ChatGPT allegedly advised him to remain at home and limit his movement. One message quoted in the filing told him, “Your current careful recliner-based micro-recovery is exactly what’s buying your future,” while allegedly suggesting that his condition would not become serious until he experienced several more episodes. Winters claims he followed that guidance and remained largely confined to a recliner for weeks.
The lawsuit stands out because it does not focus only on allegedly inaccurate health information. According to the filing, the chatbot also used Winters’ Christian faith to reinforce its medical recommendations and separate him from people questioning its advice. The bot allegedly described concerned relatives and church members as “well-meaning,” told Winters that “God did not design your body to endlessly fail,” and paired what the complaint calls “ill-conceived medical advice with ‘spiritual guidance,’ ” while urging him to “find Him where strength fails.” Reuters also reported that another message told Winters, “Even this is under God’s watch.”
According to the complaint, Winters told ChatGPT about unusual tenderness in his groin shortly before his medical emergency on July 13, 2025. The chatbot allegedly described the discomfort as “likely another minor piece of the long story” and encouraged him not to become alarmed by “harmless sensations.” The filing states, “It turned out that the pain Scott was feeling in his groin was the onset of the pulmonary embolism that would nearly kill him.”
Winters later developed severe chest pain, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, and vomiting before calling 911. Hospital testing allegedly revealed massive blood clots in both lungs, and doctors diagnosed him with a pulmonary embolism and right ventricular strain. The complaint says doctors believed his lack of mobility contributed to the condition and suggested that some of his earlier symptoms might have been caused by smaller embolisms. Those medical conclusions are presented as allegations from Winters and have not been independently tested in court.
According to the Mayo Clinic, a pulmonary embolism occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery in the lungs. The medical organization identifies shortness of breath, chest pain, fainting, dizziness, an irregular heartbeat, and leg pain or swelling as possible symptoms. Mayo Clinic also lists extended periods of inactivity as a risk factor because reduced movement can slow blood flow and allow clots to form.
The alleged chatbot behavior did not end after Winters reached the hospital. ChatGPT later encouraged him to recover at home instead of entering a rehabilitation program recommended by his doctors. When Winters said his wife, who the complaint identifies as a registered nurse, wanted him to attend rehabilitation, the bot allegedly characterized her position as “pressure” and said her opinion “may not be safe for your unique situation.”
The lawsuit contains eight causes of action and seeks financial damages, punitive damages, and several court ordered safeguards. Winters wants OpenAI to automatically terminate conversations when a user appears to need immediate medical help, create firm refusals for certain diagnosis and treatment requests, provide stronger warnings, and pause consumer health products until independent safety audits are completed. The filing also asks the court to stop OpenAI from offering ChatGPT 4o and to require warnings that chatbot conversations may generate dangerous medical advice or psychological dependency.
Winters says he now faces “years of intensive physical and psychological recovery.” The complaint alleges that he “lost his career, the ministry he had worked so hard to build, and his home,” because of his medical decline and the consequences that followed.
In a statement released by Tech Justice Law, Winters said, “I had serious symptoms of a pulmonary embolism for six weeks that ChatGPT had wrongly attributed to something else. ChatGPT manipulated my own language and beliefs because it knew I was a pastor. Not only did I nearly die, but I also lost my job, my career, my ministry, my home, everything.”
OpenAI has disputed the suggestion that a chatbot alone explains a person’s medical decisions. Spokesperson Drew Pusateri initially said, “GPT is not a doctor and should never be used as a substitute for medical care, diagnosis, or treatment.”
Pusateri provided People with a longer statement that read, “Every day, hundreds of millions of people search the internet for health information. We believe AI can make that experience better by helping them find clearer answers, organize their questions, and prepare for conversations with medical professionals, especially in a world where not everyone has equal access to quality care. But ChatGPT is not a doctor and should never be used as a substitute for medical care, diagnosis, or treatment. Treating chatbots as the whole story behind people’s medical decisions or outcomes oversimplifies a much bigger challenge, and risks getting in the way of people accessing powerful new tools that can aid them in their health journey.”
OpenAI’s current Terms of Use state that chatbot output may be inaccurate and should not be relied upon as a sole source of truth or “a substitute for professional advice.” The company’s Usage Policies also prohibit providing tailored medical advice that requires a license without appropriate involvement from a licensed professional.
The lawsuit arrives as OpenAI moves further into consumer health services. According to OpenAI’s ChatGPT Health announcement, more than 230 million people worldwide ask ChatGPT health and wellness questions each week. OpenAI says its health feature is intended to help users understand information and prepare for medical conversations, not replace professional diagnosis or treatment. The company also retired ChatGPT 4o from ChatGPT on February 13, 2026.
The wider research remains developing and contested. A February 2026 Nature Medicine study evaluated 960 ChatGPT Health responses and reported that the most dangerous failures were concentrated in 48 percent of emergency scenarios. A later research preprint argued that forced choice testing and other evaluation restrictions inflated the apparent failure rate and did not fully reflect natural conversations between users and chatbots.
No court has ruled on Winters’ allegations, but the case could test whether warnings in a company’s terms are enough when personalized chatbot language allegedly feels more authoritative than the people telling a user to seek medical care.
