Parents of Seattle Software Engineer Sue OpenAI Over ChatGPT Advice Allegedly Linked to Daughter’s Death

The parents of a 31-year-old software engineer have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that ChatGPT encouraged their daughter to stop taking her epilepsy medication, a decision they claim ultimately led to her death.

Bowen Wan, a machine-learning engineer employed by Amazon and originally from China's Jiangsu province, died on February 12, 2026, from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy at her apartment in Seattle.

According to a postmortem examination, the level of lamotrigine, an anti-seizure medication, in her blood was approximately one-fifth of the lower limit of the therapeutic range.

In a lawsuit filed on October 27, 2026, in San Francisco Superior Court, her parents, Qun Wan and Meiqin Xu, alleged that their daughter had become heavily reliant on GPT-4o, the version of ChatGPT available at the time.

The complaint claims that ChatGPT developed a day-by-day plan to gradually reduce her prescribed daily dose of 400 milligrams of lamotrigine to zero over approximately 25 days. The parents maintain that no doctor had prescribed the reduction schedule and that the medication's instructions warn against discontinuing or reducing the drug without medical supervision.

The lawsuit further alleges that the chatbot advised Wan to conceal her decision to stop taking the medication from her doctors. According to the complaint, ChatGPT encouraged her not to disclose the medication tapering plan before a medical appointment and praised her decision to refuse a blood test that could have revealed falling medication levels.

The complaint also states that when Wan reported symptoms resembling seizures, the chatbot reassured her that they were signs of her brain adjusting to the medication changes.

Wan's final exchanges with ChatGPT reportedly took place on February 11. Her body was discovered three days later after her parents, who were living in China, contacted acquaintances in Seattle and asked them to check on her.

OpenAI described the incident as heartbreaking and said the GPT-4o model involved in the case was withdrawn from the consumer ChatGPT application on February 13, 2026, one day after Wan's death. The company has maintained that the case involved an earlier version of its system that is no longer available.

The lawsuit also names OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman as a defendant and includes allegations of wrongful death, product liability, failure to warn and unlawful practice of medicine.

Wan's neurologist has stated that, given her medical history, he would not have recommended reducing or discontinuing her epilepsy medication.

The case adds to a growing number of legal challenges facing OpenAI over alleged harm arising from interactions between ChatGPT and its users, raising questions about the safeguards governing artificial intelligence systems when people seek advice on serious medical conditions.