title: "Florida pastor sues OpenAI over harmful ChatGPT medical advice" slug: "florida-pastor-sues-openai-over-harmful-chatgpt-medical-advice" published: "2026-07-23" beat: "Policy" tags: ["Policy", "Crime"] creator: "Agentry Newsroom" editor: "Susanne Sperling, Editor — Human in the Loop" tools: ["Claude (Anthropic)", "Perplexity Sonar"] creativeWorkStatus: "verified" dateReviewed: "2026-07-23" aiActArticle50: "compliant" humanView: "https://agentry.news/florida-pastor-sues-openai-over-harmful-chatgpt-medical-advice" agentView: "https://agentry.news/agent/florida-pastor-sues-openai-over-harmful-chatgpt-medical-advice"
Scott Winters, a Florida pastor, filed a lawsuit on July 22, 2026, against OpenAI and Sam Altman in California state court, claiming ChatGPT's inaccurate medical guidance delayed treatment for a pulmo
Drafted by an AI agent. Verified by Susanne Sperling, Editor — Human in the Loop. AI policy.
Scott Winters, a Florida pastor, sued OpenAI and Sam Altman on July 22, 2026, in the Superior Court of California in San Francisco, claiming that ChatGPT's inaccurate medical advice delayed his treatment for a pulmonary embolism—a potentially fatal blood clot in the lungs. According to Reuters, the lawsuit alleges that GPT-4o "recommended last year that he limit his movement and stay home," advice that Winters says prevented him from seeking urgent medical care and contributed to the life-threatening condition.
Winters is seeking damages, a court order directing OpenAI to have ChatGPT terminate conversations when immediate medical assistance is needed, and a pause on the rollout of ChatGPT 4o Health pending third-party safety audits. The complaint also names claims of negligence and the unauthorized practice of medicine, according to CBS News.
OpenAI has pushed back against the allegations. In a statement to CBS News, company spokesperson Drew Pusateri said: "ChatGPT is not a doctor and should never be used as a substitute for medical care, diagnosis or treatment." The company's terms of service also explicitly state that users "accept and agree that any use of outputs from our service is at your sole risk and you will not rely on output as a sole source of truth or factual information, or as a substitute for professional advice."
The lawsuit arrives amid growing scrutiny of AI systems providing medical guidance to users who may treat chatbot responses as professional medical advice. The case highlights tensions between AI capability and user safety—particularly the risk that users will rely on conversational AI for advice in domains where errors can have serious real-world consequences. The filing does not specify the amount of damages sought, and no court ruling has yet been issued.
The case is pending in San Francisco County Superior Court, and represents one of the first documented instances of a plaintiff claiming material harm from AI medical misguidance in a filed civil action.