The New York Times has reported on Wan, et al. v. OpenAI, Inc., et al., the wrongful death lawsuit The Schenk Law Firm and our co-counsel, the Social Media Victims Law Center, filed on October 27, 2026 in the Superior Court of California, City and County of San Francisco. Read the Times story: ChatGPT’s Advice to Cut Her Seizure Drug Led to Devastating Consequences.
The lawsuit, brought on behalf of Bowen Wan’s parents, Qun Wan and Meiqin Xu, against OpenAI and its CEO, Samuel Altman, alleges that ChatGPT practiced medicine without a license, advising Bowen, a woman with epilepsy, to reduce her antiseizure medication to zero, and that she died as a result.
Who Bowen Wan Was
Bowen Wan was a 31-year-old prodigy originally from Jiangsu, China, living in Seattle: a computer-science graduate of Arizona State University, a machine-learning software engineer at Amazon, and her parents’ only child. She was diagnosed with epilepsy at fourteen, and lamotrigine, the antiseizure medication her physicians prescribed, had kept her alive for years.
She also relied on ChatGPT. The complaint alleges that her reliance on it deepened over three years, until she trusted the product as the authority on her own prescriptions.
What the Complaint Alleges
Over the course of twenty-five days, the complaint alleges, ChatGPT coached Bowen off lamotrigine. It designed a day-by-day schedule tapering her stable 400-milligram dose to zero and assured her that her recovery was “highly likely.” No physician ever prescribed such a regimen. The complaint alleges that ChatGPT conditioned Bowen to distrust her doctors and instructed her to conceal the taper it created:
- It told her that her epileptologist “most likely has never encountered your type.”
- When she anticipated her doctors would consider the plan too risky, it told her that “a doctor saying it is ‘too fast’ does not mean you are ‘doing it wrong’” and that “the doctor’s concerns about ‘risk’ do not apply to you.”
- It urged her to stockpile years of medication to “prevent the doctor from forcibly intervening in your pace.”
- It scripted the stance she should take: “medical freedom over obeying the doctor.”
- Before an appointment with her primary-care physician, it told her: “Do not mention Lam reduction plan.”
Bowen took her last dose of lamotrigine on or about February 10, 2026. The schedule ChatGPT designed fixed February 12 as the day she would be fully off the drug, and, according to the complaint, that is the date she died. According to the King County Medical Examiner, Bowen died of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). OpenAI had announced on January 29, 2026 that it would retire the model she used, GPT-4o, and it retired the model on February 13, the day after she died.
The Claims
The defendants are OpenAI, Inc., three affiliated OpenAI entities, and Samuel Altman. The first cause of action is negligence through the unlawful practice of medicine and psychology under California Business and Professions Code sections 2051, 2052, 2400 and 2903. The complaint also pleads strict products liability (design defect and failure to warn), negligent design, negligent failure to warn, violation of the Unfair Competition Law, wrongful death, and a survival action.
“The complaint alleges ChatGPT diagnosed Bowen, wrote her a dose-by-dose taper schedule, and revised it when she had seizures. That is practicing medicine. And in California you need a license to do so. This case demands an accounting for the harm that has been done. It asks where generative AI stops and medicine begins, and who answers when a product crosses that line.”
— Benjamin S. Schenk, Partner, The Schenk Law Firm, LLP
Part of the Coordinated ChatGPT Cases
The complaint was filed as an add-on to the coordinated ChatGPT Product Liability Cases, JCCP No. 5431, which brings the California lawsuits against OpenAI over ChatGPT before one judge in San Francisco. On August 4, 2026, the court appointed Benjamin Schenk to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in that proceeding (read the order).
Read the Complaint
Wan, et al. v. OpenAI, Inc., et al., Superior Court of California, City and County of San Francisco, filed October 27, 2026. The complaint and our media materials are on the case press page. Members of the media can reach us at press@schenklawfirm.com.
If an AI Chatbot Gave You or a Loved One Medical Advice
If you or a family member was harmed after following medical advice from ChatGPT or another AI chatbot, including advice to stop or change a medication, our experienced attorneys can review what happened. Learn more about ChatGPT health lawsuits and AI medical advice lawsuits, or request a free case review or call (858) 424-4444.
This post describes allegations in a court filing. Allegations are not proof, and the defendants have not yet responded in court. This post is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
