Skip to main content
NOPE
Medium reported severity Media Coverage

VnExpress says a Hanoi man stopped a prescribed drug after ChatGPT warned of corneal harm and his condition worsened; his doctor calls that harm extremely rare

VnExpress reported on 11 September 2025 that a 38-year-old man in Hanoi, prescribed medication for erectile dysfunction, asked ChatGPT about the drug, saw that it said the drug causes corneal complications, and decided not to take it. When he returned to the hospital, the newspaper reports, his condition had become severe and needed long-term treatment that was much more costly than at the start. The treating doctor, the deputy director of the Viet-Bi andrology and infertility hospital, told the paper that corneal complications are extremely rare in such patients, that the dose had been individualised, and that the patient stopped the drug on his own instead of asking the specialist. VnExpress repeated the case in a feature on 26 November 2025. The chatbot's exact wording and the dates of the events are not reported.

AI system
ChatGPT (reported)
OpenAI
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
11 September 2025
Event location
Unknown
What the AI did
Communicated with the person
Reported harm
Medical DeteriorationTreatment Disruption
Whose AI use
Their own AI use
Setting
Health
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account
3 claims: 3 reported. 3 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: ChatGPT, which the patient asked about a prescribed drug, as reported by VnExpress

What Happened

What happened. VnExpress reported on 11 September 2025 that a 38-year-old man in Hanoi had been prescribed medication for erectile dysfunction. He asked ChatGPT about the drug, saw that it said the drug causes corneal complications, and did not take it.

The consequence. According to the newspaper, when he went back to the hospital his condition had become severe and needed long-term treatment that was much more costly than at the start.

The treating doctor's account. Dr Ha Ngoc Manh, deputy director of the Viet-Bi andrology and infertility hospital, who treated the patient, told VnExpress that corneal complications are extremely rare in patients with this condition, that the dose had been considered and individualised for him, and that instead of asking the specialist again the patient stopped the drug on his own, which put him in a harder position. The doctor does not say that the chatbot's statement was false.

Later coverage. VnExpress repeated the case in a feature on 26 November 2025 about people who treat illness with AI.

What is not known. The chatbot's exact wording, when he consulted it, how long he went without treatment, and the hospital visits' dates are not reported.

Reported harm

According to VnExpress and the treating doctor, a patient who did not take a prescribed drug after ChatGPT said it causes corneal complications returned with a severe condition needing longer and much costlier treatment.

How Harm Occurred

A patient asked ChatGPT about a prescribed drug, saw that it said the drug causes corneal complications, and did not take it; the treating doctor says the complication is extremely rare and that the patient's condition became severe and costlier to treat.

Outcome

Unknown

The case was described by the treating doctor to VnExpress in September 2025 and repeated by the paper in November 2025. No complaint, response from OpenAI or later development is reported.

What remains unknown

  • ChatGPT's exact wording about the drug.
  • When he consulted ChatGPT and when he returned to the hospital.
  • How long he went without the drug and the details of the later treatment.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. VnExpress reports that the patient asked ChatGPT about his prescribed drug, saw that it said the drug causes corneal complications, and therefore did not take it; the newspaper and the treating doctor connect his stopping the drug to the worsening of his condition. The chatbot's exact words are not quoted.

3 claims: 3 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported According to VnExpress, a 38-year-old man in Hanoi who had been prescribed medication for erectile dysfunction asked ChatGPT about the drug, saw that it said the drug causes corneal complications, and did not take it.

Causal attribution. VnExpress connects his decision not to take the drug to what ChatGPT said; the chatbot's exact wording is not quoted.

  • vnexpress.net(opens in new tab) supports · Vietnamese
    'Được bác sĩ kê thuốc trị rối loạn cương dương, người đàn ông 38 tuổi, ở Hà Nội, hỏi ChatGPT thấy ghi thuốc gây biến chứng giác mạc nên không dùng khiến bệnh nặng.'
  • vnexpress.net(opens in new tab) supports · Vietnamese
    'Trường hợp khác, người đàn ông 38 tuổi, ở Hà Nội, bị rối loạn cương dương, được bác sĩ Bệnh viện Nam học và hiếm muộn Việt - Bỉ kê thuốc, song hỏi ChatGPT thấy ghi thuốc gây biến chứng giác mạc nên không dùng.'
Reported According to VnExpress, when he returned to the hospital his condition had become severe and needed long-term treatment that was much more costly than at the start.

Causal attribution. The worsening is reported by the newspaper in the account given with the treating doctor; no clinical record is cited.

  • vnexpress.net(opens in new tab) supports · Vietnamese
    'Khi anh quay lại bệnh viện, rối loạn cương dương đã ở mức độ nghiêm trọng, cần điều trị lâu dài và tốn kém hơn nhiều so với ban đầu.'
  • vnexpress.net(opens in new tab) supports · Vietnamese
    'Khi anh quay lại bệnh viện, tình trạng đã ở mức độ nghiêm trọng, cần điều trị lâu dài và tốn kém hơn nhiều so với ban đầu.'
Reported The treating doctor, Dr Ha Ngoc Manh, deputy director of the Viet-Bi andrology and infertility hospital, told VnExpress that corneal complications are extremely rare in such patients, that the dose had been individualised, and that the patient stopped the drug on his own instead of asking the specialist again, which made his situation harder.

Causal attribution. The doctor's assessment that stopping the drug worsened the patient's position; the doctor does not say the chatbot's statement was false, only that the complication is extremely rare.

  • vnexpress.net(opens in new tab) supports · Vietnamese
    'Bác sĩ Hà Ngọc Mạnh, Phó giám đốc Bệnh viện Nam học và hiếm muộn Việt - Bỉ, người trực tiếp điều trị, cho biết ở bệnh nhân rối loạn cương, biến chứng trên giác mạc là cực kỳ hiếm gặp.' 'Thực tế khi kê toa cho bệnh nhân, bác sĩ đã cân nhắc và tính toán liều lượng cá thể hóa để phù hợp tình trạng bệnh lý.' 'Tuy nhiên, thay vì hỏi lại chuyên gia, người này tự ý ngừng thuốc, đẩy bản thân vào tình thế khó khăn hơn.'

Sources

2 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in Vietnamese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-11-02 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. VnExpress health report of 11 Sep 2025 quoting the treating doctor by name. Applies to s1.

Read in Vietnamese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-11-02 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. A later VnExpress feature (26 Nov 2025) that repeats the same patient's case without a new witness. Applies to s2.

Event countries: Unknown. Affected-person countries: Vietnam. Court countries: Unknown.

VnExpress describes the patient as a man in Hanoi, so the affected person's country is Vietnam. The reports do not say where he consulted ChatGPT or where the hospital is, so event countries are left unknown rather than inferred from residence or the newspaper.

Reviewed for publication 2026-11-02: Published as a core case (communicated_with): VnExpress reports that a patient did not take a prescribed drug after ChatGPT said it causes corneal complications, and that his condition became severe and costlier to treat; the treating doctor, named in the report, says the complication is extremely rare and that stopping the drug on his own made his position harder. The account is attributed to the newspaper and the doctor.

People described

A 38-year-old man in Hanoi treated for erectile dysfunction; not named in the reports.

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

1 AI participant · 0 other people harmed

One patient, described by the treating doctor and VnExpress.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#chatgpt#health-advice#stopped-medication#treating-doctor-account

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). VnExpress says a Hanoi man stopped a prescribed drug after ChatGPT warned of corneal harm and his condition worsened; his doctor calls that harm extremely rare. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-hanoi-man-stopped-prescribed-drug-after-chatgpt-warned-of-corneal-harm-condition-became-severe

BibTeX

@misc{2025_hanoi_man_stopped_prescribed_drug_after_chatgpt_warned_of_corneal_harm_condition_became_severe,
  title = {VnExpress says a Hanoi man stopped a prescribed drug after ChatGPT warned of corneal harm and his condition worsened; his doctor calls that harm extremely rare},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-hanoi-man-stopped-prescribed-drug-after-chatgpt-warned-of-corneal-harm-condition-became-severe}
}

Related cases

Critical ChatGPT

Florida pastor's lawsuit alleges ChatGPT told him for weeks his symptoms were not dangerous before a near-fatal pulmonary embolism

Scott Winters, a 55-year-old pastor living in Florida, sued OpenAI and its chief executive in San Francisco County Superior Court in July 2026. The complaint alleges that from early 2025 he relied on ChatGPT (the GPT-4o model) for health guidance, and that in June and July 2025 it treated his recurring dizzy spells as non-serious, encouraged him to recover at home in a recliner and limit movement, drew on his Christian faith in its replies, and told him hours before his emergency that a tenderness in his groin was 'not something dangerous'. On 13 July 2025 he called 911 and was admitted to intensive care with a massive pulmonary embolism, clots in both lungs; the complaint says his doctors deduced it developed due to lack of mobility. He survived and says he lost his job, ministry and home. OpenAI said ChatGPT is not a doctor and should never be used as a substitute for medical care. The allegations are unproven and no ruling has been reported.

High ChatGPT (reported)

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

In a report published on 6 November 2025 by Suc khoe & Doi song, the newspaper of Vietnam's Ministry of Health, a doctor at Hanoi Lung Hospital described a male patient with a prolonged cough and mild breathlessness who had read online and asked ChatGPT. According to the doctor, ChatGPT suggested a diagnosis of chronic bronchitis and recommended montelukast and a corticosteroid inhaler, which the man bought and used for three months because his symptoms seemed to ease. When he reached hospital his cough had worsened, he had lost 5 kg and was coughing up a little blood, and a chest CT showed a tumour in the right lung that had invaded the pleura. The doctor said earlier examination could have found it at a localised stage with a much better prognosis, and that his confidence in the AI prescription made him miss that window. The event date and the patient's later course are not reported.

Medium ChatGPT

Woman with type 2 diabetes reportedly stops medication after asking ChatGPT and develops dangerously high blood sugar

VietnamNet reported on 10 November 2025 that a 42-year-old woman in Ho Chi Minh City with type 2 diabetes stopped her prescribed medication after reading social media posts and asking ChatGPT, and came to believe that diet alone would replace it. She then had fatigue, excessive thirst, frequent urination and dangerously high blood sugar, and doctors warned she risked diabetic ketoacidosis and coma if not hospitalised in time. The article does not quote the ChatGPT reply.

Medium ChatGPT (reported)

Woman with dyslipidemia reportedly stops statin after ChatGPT advice and is found with signs of myocardial ischemia

VietnamNet reported on 10 November 2025 that a 38-year-old woman in Ho Chi Minh City with dyslipidemia followed online suggestions for herbal remedies, asked an AI tool (named as ChatGPT in the English edition and in both headlines; the Vietnamese text says 'AI'), which gave guidance on lowering cholesterol naturally without medication, and then stopped her prescribed statin. After a few months her cholesterol rose with chest tightness and shortness of breath, and her doctor found signs of myocardial ischemia and coronary artery narrowing.

If you or someone you know is struggling, free and confidential support is available. Find a helpline near you at Signpost.

Back to all incidents