Vietnam: Hanoi doctor says a man self-treated a cough for three months with drugs ChatGPT suggested before a lung tumour was found

The doctor's account. Suc khoe & Doi song, the newspaper of Vietnam's Ministry of Health, published a report on 6 November 2025 about people who treat themselves on prescriptions suggested by AI. In it a doctor at Hanoi Lung Hospital described patients harmed by trusting an 'AI doctor' whom the doctor had received directly. One was a man in his mid-fifties with a prolonged cough and mild breathlessness. The doctor said the man read online and asked ChatGPT, which suggested a diagnosis of chronic bronchitis and advised montelukast together with a corticosteroid inhaler. The man bought the drugs himself and used them for three months because his symptoms seemed to ease.

What was found. When he came to the hospital, the doctor said, the cough had not eased but had worsened; he had lost 5 kg and was coughing up a little blood. A chest CT showed a tumour in the right lung that had invaded the pleura. The doctor said that had the man come earlier the tumour could have been detected at a localised stage with a much better prognosis, and that his confidence in the 'AI prescription' made him miss the golden window for diagnosis.

What is not known. The report does not quote the ChatGPT conversation, say what the man told it or which version he used, or give the dates of his self-treatment or admission. It does not state the tumour's diagnosis, his treatment or his outcome. The account is the treating doctor's as reported by one newspaper; the patient is not quoted. The same report describes a second patient, whose family consulted ChatGPT, which is not part of this record.

According to his doctor, the man used drugs ChatGPT suggested for three months instead of seeking examination; by the time he reached hospital his cough had worsened, he had lost 5 kg and was coughing up blood, and a lung tumour had invaded the pleura, past the stage at which earlier examination could have found it.

According to the treating doctor, ChatGPT suggested a benign diagnosis and drugs for the man's persistent cough; he self-treated with them for three months instead of being examined, and a lung tumour that had already invaded the pleura was found only when he reached hospital.

Described by the treating doctor in a Ministry of Health newspaper report on the risks of AI prescriptions (6 November 2025). No complaint, regulatory step or response from OpenAI is reported.