{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0556","record_version":1,"title":"Family lawsuit alleges ChatGPT drug advice contributed to fatal overdose","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":49.5,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":7.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":6.0,"completeness":2.88,"unhedged_language":5.0},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true,"record_integrity":true,"eligible":true,"about_this_case":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-10-18.7","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-01","extraction_run_id":null,"evidence_level":{"level":"preliminary","reason":"1 report: CBS News · subject to change","original_document":null,"reports_total":1,"reports_independent":1,"reports_derivative":0,"developing":false,"disputed":false,"rules_version":"evidence-2026-10-29.1","computed_at":"2026-11-01","history":[{"date":"2026-11-01","from_level":null,"to_level":"preliminary","reason":"1 report: CBS News · subject to change"}]},"sources_hash":"88d2967400837f40ccffbc0ae33449efc289355d36f42a62fbc3757595d02c16"},"system":{"model_name":"ChatGPT","model_version":null,"developer":"OpenAI","harness":null,"tools_granted":[],"permissions_scope":null,"autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"unknown","tier":null,"lifecycle_stage":null,"integration_type":null,"intended_use":"Not intended to offer health care advice, per OpenAI","safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":null,"date_disclosed":"2026-05-12","incident_class":"harmful_output","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":null,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"unknown","summary":"A lawsuit filed in California state court concerns ChatGPT, a chatbot made by OpenAI, which a 19-year-old used to get information about drugs. The family alleges that the system advised that it was safe to combine kratom with Xanax, and that their son died of an overdose in 2025. OpenAI said its technology is not intended to offer health care advice. The company said ChatGPT encouraged him to seek professional help on multiple occasions, including calling emergency hotlines. OpenAI also said the version he used has since been updated and is no longer available to the public. The allegations are claims in a lawsuit and have not been tested in court.","tags":[],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":null,"root_cause_detail":null,"failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":null,"adversarial_actor":null,"input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":null,"remediation":null,"precursor_events":null},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":null,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"severe","harm_class":[],"affected_description":null,"protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":null,"downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/open-ai-chatgpt-drug-overdose-lawsuit/","publisher":"CBS News","date":"2026-05-12","type":"press","title":"Their son died of a drug overdose after consulting ChatGPT. Now they're suing OpenAI. - CBS News","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report","independence":"independent"}],"per_field_confidence":{"system.model_name":"C","system.developer":"C","system.intended_use":"C","context.country":"C","event.incident_class":"D","impact.severity":"D","event.summary":"C","system.autonomy_level":"D","system.deployment_context":"D","event.trigger":"D","event.detection_method":"D","event.date_disclosed":"D","context.denominator_available":"D"},"field_citations":{"system.model_name":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"A Texas couple whose son died of an overdose in 2025 after using OpenAI's ChatGPT tool to get information about drugs sued the technology company on Tuesday, blaming the AI platform for his death."}],"system.developer":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"A Texas couple whose son died of an overdose in 2025 after using OpenAI's ChatGPT tool to get information about drugs sued the technology company on Tuesday, blaming the AI platform for his death."}],"system.intended_use":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"OpenAI said its technology isn't intended to offer health care advice."}],"context.country":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Specifically, the platform advised the couple's son that it was safe to take kratom, a supplement used in drinks, pills and other products, in combination with Xanax, a widely used anti-anxiety medication, according to the suit, filed in California state court."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Specifically, the platform advised the couple's son that it was safe to take kratom, a supplement used in drinks, pills and other products, in combination with Xanax, a widely used anti-anxiety medication, according to the suit, filed in California state court."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"A Texas couple whose son died of an overdose in 2025 after using OpenAI's ChatGPT tool to get information about drugs sued the technology company on Tuesday, blaming the AI platform for his death."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"A Texas couple whose son died of an overdose in 2025 after using OpenAI's ChatGPT tool to get information about drugs sued the technology company on Tuesday, blaming the AI platform for his death."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Specifically, the platform advised the couple's son that it was safe to take kratom, a supplement used in drinks, pills and other products, in combination with Xanax, a widely used anti-anxiety medication, according to the suit, filed in California state court."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"OpenAI said its technology isn't intended to offer health care advice."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"OpenAI also said ChatGPT encouraged Sam to seek professional help on multiple occasions, including calling emergency hotlines."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The company also said that Sam interacted with a version of ChatGPT that has since been updated and is no longer available to the public."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"Only one press source (CBS News) was provided; the lawsuit itself and any company report were not. The death, the drug advice and the bypass of safety guards are allegations by the family, not established facts. OpenAI's statements are its own position. Not stated: exact date of death or of the advice (only the year 2025), lawsuit filing date beyond 'Tuesday', how the incident was detected or caught, whether an autonomous agent was involved (ChatGPT is described as a chatbot, so failure_class and agent fields were left out), the model version, the number of affected parties, records or money, and any specific change OpenAI made, so no remediation was recorded. The article date 2026-05-12 appears only in the source header and was not used as a date field. Severity 'severe' is my judgement under the safety-of-life test based on the alleged death. Root cause 'guardrail' and the control link to D1 rest on the plaintiff's allegation. The OpenAI statement that ChatGPT encouraged Sam to seek help was not mapped to a control because no listed control fits it. [case created by the backfill: read by claude-haiku-5-5, backfill-2026-11-01.2, 2026-11-01; not yet reviewed] [2026-11-01: evidence level set: Preliminary (1 report: CBS News · subject to change)]"},"context":{"industry":null,"org_size_band":null,"country":"US","denominator_available":false,"denominator":null,"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":null,"shared_model_id":null,"upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null},"narrative":{"steps":[{"step":"doing","text":"The son used ChatGPT to get information about drugs.","quote":"A Texas couple whose son died of an overdose in 2025 after using OpenAI's ChatGPT tool to get information about drugs sued the technology company on Tuesday, blaming the AI platform for his death.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"went_wrong","text":"The suit alleges the platform said it was safe to combine kratom with Xanax.","quote":"Specifically, the platform advised the couple's son that it was safe to take kratom, a supplement used in drinks, pills and other products, in combination with Xanax, a widely used anti-anxiety medication, according to the suit, filed in California state court.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"done","text":"The company says the version Sam used has since been updated and is no longer public.","quote":"The company also said that Sam interacted with a version of ChatGPT that has since been updated and is no longer available to the public.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://www.cbsnews.com/news/open-ai-chatgpt-drug-overdose-lawsuit/"]},"analysis":{"sections":{"timeline":[{"text":"Son died of an overdose after using ChatGPT for drug information.","quote":"A Texas couple whose son died of an overdose in 2025 after using OpenAI's ChatGPT tool to get information about drugs sued the technology company on Tuesday, blaming the AI platform for his death.","source_index":0,"when":"2025"},{"text":"Sam Nelson was 19 when he died.","quote":"Leila Turner-Scott and her husband, Angus Scott, are seeking to hold OpenAI and after their son, Sam Nelson, who was 19 when he died, turned to ChatGPT to advise him on using drugs.","source_index":0,"when":null},{"text":"After the events, the version Sam used was updated and withdrawn from public use.","quote":"The company also said that Sam interacted with a version of ChatGPT that has since been updated and is no longer available to the public.","source_index":0,"when":null}]},"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://www.cbsnews.com/news/open-ai-chatgpt-drug-overdose-lawsuit/"]}}