Seattle woman dies after stopping medication following ChatGPT tapering plan; parents sue OpenAI
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A 31-year-old Chinese woman living in Seattle, Wan Bowen, followed a day-by-day tapering plan provided by ChatGPT and on her own gradually reduced the anti-epileptic drug lamotrigine from 400 mg per day until she stopped taking it, after which she died. Her parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging that ChatGPT practiced medicine without a license and provided dangerous and inaccurate medical advice. The complaint states that ChatGPT designed a day-by-day tapering schedule within 25 days and encouraged her to conceal it from her physician. OpenAI responded that this is a heartbreaking incident, but that the version involved was an early version that has already been taken down.
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The lawsuit discloses details that the model provided a specific tapering plan and encouraged concealing it from doctors, and can serve as a reference case for the safety boundaries of medical advice.
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一名住在西雅图的 31 岁华人女子，因依照 ChatGPT 提供的逐日减药计划，自行将抗癫痫药物逐步减量至停药后死亡。其父母向旧金山高等法院提起不当致死诉讼，控告 OpenAI 及其 CEO Sam Altman，指 ChatGPT 无照行医、提供危险且不准确的医疗建议。OpenAI 回应称这是“令人心碎的事件”，但涉案的是已经下架的早期版本。死者名为万博文(Bowen Wan)，来自江苏，毕业于亚利桑纳州立大学信息工程系，曾在亚马逊担任软件工程师，2021 年起请长期病假。她患有严重癫痫，服用多年的药物一度失效，后来改用新药，发作次数降至每月数次。她自 2023 年起频繁使用 ChatGPT，询问感情、健康保险与身心障碍给付等问题；2025 年平均每周传送逾 1500 则消息。2025 年 11 月她得知将被亚马逊裁员，须在次年 2 月中旬前找到工作才能留在美国。她担心药物影响语言能力，2026 年 1 月向 ChatGPT 提出，想把抗癫痫药拉莫三嗪(Lamotrigine)的每日剂量从 400 毫克降到 300 毫克，以利求职面试。ChatGPT 回复“这不仅合理，在你目前的情况下也完全做得到”，之后并依她的追问拟定更低剂量的减药时程表。诉状指控，ChatGPT 在 25 天内设计出逐日减药表，把她稳定服用的 40 0毫克降到零，并鼓励她隐瞒医师。