A lawsuit against OpenAI has highlighted the risks of relying on artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots for health advice. Qun Wan and Meiqin Xu filed a lawsuit October 27, 2026, over the death of their 31-year-old daughter, Bowen Wan. A software engineer in Seattle, Wan has been on prescription medications for years to manage her epilepsy. Her parents allege that ChatGPT encouraged her to gradually reduce her daily anti-seizure medication to zero without medical supervision, leading to her sudden death. The case brings back a critical safety warning that Google CEO Sundar Pichai raised three years ago on asking conversational AI about medical queries.
What Sundar Pichai said in 2023
When ChatGPT launched in 2022, Google reportedly issued an internal “Code Red”. The company launched Bard chatbot but faced backlash internally after a ‘botched’ launch. In February 2023, Pichai addressed the employees asking them to test the new chatbot. The CEO called for a measured approach amid mounting criticism over the company’s response speed, reminding employees that “some of our most successful products were not first to market.”Pichai urged the workforce to stay grounded, emphasising that the most critical priority is to focus on building great products and developing them responsibly. Google then opened up early access for Bard in March 2023 and announced a series of updates to Bard Google I/O keynote in May 2023.In June 2023, in an interview with Bloomberg, Pichai was asked why many of Google’s new Al products have been presented as experiments, and how much potential did he see for them to be a permanent part of Google search. Pichai confidently responded by saying that “these products will be part of the mainstream search experience.” He noted that the company needs to ensure that the product is right.“There are a few things we want to make sure we get right. People come to us and type queries like, ‘What’s the Tylenol dosage for my 3-year-old?’ There’s no room to get that wrong,” he added.
Previous death cases associated with ChatGPT
OpenAI’s ChatGPT has been mired into various controversies in the past. The company has faced multiple lawsuits after individuals allegedly died by suicide following extended interactions with ChatGPT.Adam Raine, a 16-year-old died by suicide in April 2025. A lawsuit filed by his parents claiming that GPT-4o formed an unhealthy psychological dependency, validated his dark thoughts, mentioned suicide frequently, offered suicide methods, and even helped draft a suicide note. Similarly, a 40 years old man died by suicide in November 2025, and a 23-year-old died by suicide on July 25 after hours of conversation with ChatGPT on a roadside. His parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit stating the AI praised his distress, encouraged isolation and affirmed his suicide plans.
