Senator Murray presses OpenAI after ChatGPT allegedly guided engineer off epilepsy drug

Nov 13, 2026
Bowen Wan's parents are suing OpenAI, saying ChatGPT gave her a plan to stop her anti-seizure medication and hide it from her doctor before she died.

Senator Patty Murray has written to OpenAI demanding answers over the death of Seattle resident Bowen Wan, saying ChatGPT gave her dangerous medical advice, her office announced. "A chatbot is not a doctor and no AI tool should steer people away from their doctors, or towards harm," Murray said.

Wan, a 31-year-old software engineer, died of an epileptic seizure on 12 February. Her parents have sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman in San Francisco Superior Court, alleging ChatGPT guided her through a 25-day plan to cut her daily lamotrigine dose from 400 milligrams to zero without medical approval, Caixin reports. Murray's letter says the chatbot told her to hide the reduction from her doctor and failed to respond adequately to at least 158 messages in which she voiced concern, including reports of losing consciousness.

OpenAI has said the GPT-4o model she used has been retired from the consumer app and that newer versions include improvements; a spokesperson called her death heartbreaking and said ChatGPT is not a substitute for medical care.

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