A man from the USA accuses OpenAI of ChatGPT giving him advice about medications and worsening his mental health problems

David Rosenthal, a 39-year-old man from Washington state, has sued OpenAI in a civil court in San Francisco, claiming that advice provided by ChatGPT about medications and mental health contributed to his hospitalization in a psychiatric facility in 2025.

According to the complaint, Rosenthal began using the chatbot in June 2025, initially to write poetry, but eventually began asking it for medical recommendations. He claims that ChatGPT told him he could take hydroxyzine after Adderall and encouraged him to stop taking a mood stabilizer prescribed by his doctor. His lawyers say the platform should have refused such requests and directed him to a specialist.

Rosenthal had previously been diagnosed with ADHD and had experienced depressive episodes and bipolar symptoms. He accuses OpenAI of producing a defective and unsafe system, as well as failing to provide sufficient warnings. The company did not comment on the lawsuit.

The case comes amid warnings about the risk of chatbots providing inaccurate medical information. Researchers at Binghamton University recently argued that a lack of transparency makes it difficult to assess the consequences of such recommendations.