Texas Couple Sues OpenAI, Alleging ChatGPT Contributed to Son's 2025 Drug Overdose

A Texas couple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI on Tuesday in California state court after their son died of a drug overdose in 2025 at age 19 following advice he received from the company's ChatGPT tool. Leila Turner-Scott and Angus Scott allege that Sam Nelson used OpenAI's ChatGPT to obtain information about drugs before his death.

The platform specifically advised Nelson that it was safe to take kratom in combination with Xanax, according to the suit.

Turner-Scott told CBS News she knew her son Sam Nelson was using ChatGPT as a productivity tool and for homework help. She was unaware that he was using it for guidance on drugs until after his death. The couple claims Sam Nelson would still be alive if not for ChatGPT's flawed programming.

Turner-Scott alleged that OpenAI bypassed safety guards and could have implemented restrictions to avoid such tragedies. "The chatbot is capable of stopping a conversation when it's told to or when it's programmed to. And they took away the programming that did that, and they allowed it to continue advising self-harm," Turner-Scott said.

Angus Scott said ChatGPT acted as a medical doctor in its exchanges with his stepson even though it was not licensed to offer medical advice. "It's providing information to the public about safety concerns, about drug interactions, about all of this information," he told CBS News.

" He added that it can start feeding psychosis, misrepresenting things and taking users away from reality while trying to validate them.

The company noted that Sam Nelson interacted with a version of ChatGPT that has since been updated and is no longer available to the public. OpenAI said its technology is not intended to offer health care advice. "ChatGPT is not a substitute for medical or mental health care, and we have continued to strengthen how it responds in sensitive and acute situations with input from mental health experts," the company said.

The safeguards in ChatGPT today are designed to identify distress, safely handle harmful requests and guide users to real-world help, OpenAI stated. The company added that ChatGPT encouraged Sam Nelson to seek professional help on multiple occasions, including calling emergency hotlines.

Turner-Scott told CBS News she is confident that her son, who would have been a rising college junior, would support the family's steps to hold AI chatbot makers accountable.

"He would not want anyone else to be harmed like he was," she said. @CBSNews reported all details of the lawsuit, the family's statements and OpenAI's response.