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A man from Florida has sued OpenAI over what he called "extremely dangerous medical recommendations" made by the company's AI chatbot ChatGPT, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from California, Colorado, and New York.
- California: A man from Florida named Scott Winters has sued OpenAI over what he called "extremely dangerous medical recommendations" made by the company's AI chatbot ChatGPT. In the lawsuit, Winters claimed that ChatGPT assured him that early warning signs of a life-threatening pulmonary embolism that he suffered last year were "not something dangerous" and dissuaded him from seeking medical advice. When Winters first started using ChatGPT for health advice in 2024, the chatbot would remind him of the importance of seeing a medical professional, but it allegedly stopped providing these disclaimers over time and would instead offer its own medical advice. The lawsuit, which was filed in the Superior Court of California in San Francisco, accuses OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman of negligence, as well as the "unauthorized practice of medicine" since ChatGPT offered Winters diagnoses and treatment plans and encouraged him to ignore outside advice to seek medical care. According to the New York Times, Winters' lawsuit appears to be the first to claim that health advice from a chatbot has harmed a person seeking advice about a medical condition. A similar lawsuit was filed against OpenAI in May after a 19-year-old used ChatGPT's advice about using illicit drugs before dying of an overdose. (Rosenbluth, New York Times, 7/22)
- Colorado: Intermountain Health and AdventHealth have proposed a joint venture that would combine their facilities in the Denver area. AdventHealth has five hospitals, urgent care centers, medical practices, and off-site emergency clinics around Deven while Intermountain has three hospitals and related practices. So far, the health systems have signed a letter of intent and expect to sign a definitive agreement within the next few weeks. AdventHealth will have a majority membership interest in the joint venture and manage the day-to-day operations of the facilities. "Partnering with Intermountain Health represents an opportunity to build on our shared commitment to deliver high-quality, compassionate care," said David Banks, president and CEO of AdventHealth. "By bringing together the capabilities of our organizations, we can expand access, augment services, enhance clinical quality, and continue improving the health and well-being of people across the greater Denver metro, guided by our mission of extending the healing ministry of Christ." (Halleman, Healthcare Dive, 7/22; Intermountain Health press release, 7/21)
- New York: New York City is currently experiencing an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease linked to contaminated cooling towers. Legionnaires' disease is a form of severe pneumonia that is caused by bacteria in warm, stagnant water. So far, 82 cases of Legionnaires' disease have been reported in connection with outbreak, including eight hospitalizations and five deaths. According to city health officials, Legionella bacteria was discovered in 34 cooling towers at 33 buildings, all of which have since been fully cleaned. "We have responded rapidly and aggressively to this Legionnaires' cluster on the Upper East Side," said NYC Health Commissioner Alister Martin. "With two confirmed cases, we launched our investigation and directed every building with an initial positive test result to immediately clean and disinfect its cooling tower. These actions have saved lives." Health officials have also suggested that the source of Legionella bacteria has likely been eliminated due to a decline in new cases. (Mitchell, The Hill, 7/22)
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