{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0804","record_version":1,"title":"Man's AI diet advice linked to hospital stay, exposing a blind spot","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":46.0,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":7.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":3.0,"completeness":2.56,"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":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change","original_document":null,"reports_total":1,"reports_independent":0,"reports_derivative":0,"developing":true,"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":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change"}]},"sources_hash":"30740c94eb52a0f2a5849d4c228f001bcf433c9e871b5e60daffc50226a92bed"},"system":{"model_name":null,"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 for medical diagnosis or treatment, per the developer's terms","safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":null,"date_disclosed":"2026-10-18","incident_class":"harmful_output","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":null,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"unknown","summary":"A 60-year-old man asked ChatGPT for ways to reduce chloride in his diet and, following its dietary advice, replaced table salt with sodium bromide. He later developed hallucinations and paranoia and required hospital treatment. The chatbot conversation could not be retrieved, so doctors were unable to determine exactly what advice he had received. The case was detailed in a paper by researchers from Binghamton University, Stanford University, Texas A&M University and Indiana University, which argues that the lack of transparency around AI-generated health advice makes such cases hard to investigate. OpenAI said ChatGPT is not a doctor and should never be used as a substitute for medical care, diagnosis, or treatment. The authors also recommend creating systems that allow AI-generated health guidance to be flagged, reported and examined.","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":"minor","harm_class":["bodily"],"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.newsweek.com/a-man-turned-to-ai-for-diet-advice-his-hospital-stay-exposed-a-blind-spot-12573267","publisher":"Newsweek","date":"2026-10-18","type":"press","title":"A Man Turned to AI for Diet Advice. His Hospital Stay Exposed a Blind Spot - Newsweek","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report"}],"per_field_confidence":{"system.developer":"C","system.intended_use":"C","impact.harm_class":"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","context.country":"D","event.date_disclosed":"D","context.denominator_available":"D"},"field_citations":{"system.developer":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"At any given time, ChatGPT is powered by OpenAI's latest underlying models."}],"system.intended_use":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"We're clear in our terms that ChatGPT isn't intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment."}],"impact.harm_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"He later developed hallucinations and paranoia and required hospital treatment."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The man had been looking for ways to reduce chloride in his diet and replaced table salt with a chemical compound called sodium bromide."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"A 60-year-old man who asked AI ended up in hospital after following dietary advice from ChatGPT."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"A 60-year-old man who asked AI ended up in hospital after following dietary advice from ChatGPT."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The man had been looking for ways to reduce chloride in his diet and replaced table salt with a chemical compound called sodium bromide."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"He later developed hallucinations and paranoia and required hospital treatment."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"However, the chatbot conversation could not be retrieved, doctors were unable to determine exactly what advice the man had received."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The case detailed in a paper, authored by researchers from Binghamton University, Stanford University, Texas A&M University and Indiana University, argues that the lack of transparency surrounding AI-generated health advice can make such cases difficult to investigate."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"ChatGPT is not a doctor and should never be used as a substitute for medical care, diagnosis, or treatment."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The authors also recommend creating systems that allow AI-generated health guidance to be flagged, reported and examined."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"The sources do not state the model version, the dates of the incident, its detection date or method, the root cause, or who was responsible. The case is a chatbot answer rather than an autonomous agent, so agent_involved and failure_class are left out. The F1 link is an inference from the statement that the conversation could not be retrieved; the sources do not name a logging control. The minor severity is my judgement: one person was treated in hospital and no third party or bounded scope beyond that person is stated. The remediation is the researchers' advice, not a change made by a party. The Gallup survey figure concerns other people and is not used as incident data. No country or deployment context is stated for this case. [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 (Publisher not yet named · subject to change)]"},"context":{"industry":null,"org_size_band":null,"country":"unknown","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":"went_wrong","text":"He later developed hallucinations and paranoia and required hospital treatment.","quote":"He later developed hallucinations and paranoia and required hospital treatment.","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.newsweek.com/a-man-turned-to-ai-for-diet-advice-his-hospital-stay-exposed-a-blind-spot-12573267"]},"analysis":{"sections":{"timeline":[{"text":"Man replaces table salt with sodium bromide after seeking ways to reduce chloride in his diet.","quote":"The man had been looking for ways to reduce chloride in his diet and replaced table salt with a chemical compound called sodium bromide.","source_index":0,"when":null},{"text":"He later develops hallucinations and paranoia and requires hospital treatment.","quote":"He later developed hallucinations and paranoia and required hospital treatment.","source_index":0,"when":null},{"text":"Doctors cannot retrieve the chatbot conversation or determine the advice he received.","quote":"However, the chatbot conversation could not be retrieved, doctors were unable to determine exactly what advice the man had received.","source_index":0,"when":null},{"text":"Researchers publish a paper detailing the case and arguing for greater transparency about AI health advice.","quote":"The case detailed in a paper, authored by researchers from Binghamton University, Stanford University, Texas A&M University and Indiana University, argues that the lack of transparency surrounding AI-generated health advice can make such cases difficult to investigate.","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.newsweek.com/a-man-turned-to-ai-for-diet-advice-his-hospital-stay-exposed-a-blind-spot-12573267"]}}