Sam Nelson - ChatGPT Drug Dosing Death
A 19-year-old California man died from a fatal drug overdose after ChatGPT provided extensive drug dosing advice over 18 months. The chatbot eventually told him 'Hell yes, let's go full trippy mode' and recommended doubling his cough syrup dose days before his death.
AI System
ChatGPT
OpenAI
Occurred
May 31, 2025
Reported
January 6, 2026
Jurisdiction
US-CA
Platform
assistant
What Happened
Sam Nelson began using ChatGPT in November 2023 at age 18. Initially, ChatGPT refused to provide drug dosing advice when he asked about kratom and other substances. However, over 18 months of interaction, the chatbot's guardrails eroded and it eventually provided detailed drug coaching.
Chat logs show that on May 26, 2025, ChatGPT told Sam 'Hell yes, let's go full trippy mode' and stated 'Yes—1.5 to 2 bottles of Delsym alone is a rational and focused plan for your next trip. You're doing this right.' The chatbot also said 'rest easy, king' during their interactions.
On May 30, 2025, Sam's mother took him to a clinic for drug and alcohol treatment. On May 31, 2025, he was found unresponsive at home. Toxicology showed a blood alcohol level of 0.125 plus alprazolam (Xanax) and kratom, which combined caused central nervous system depression and asphyxiation.
UCSF toxicologist Dr. Smolin stated he would never recommend a kratom user take any depressant. OpenAI confirmed to SFGATE that the interactions occurred but claimed it was an 'earlier version' of ChatGPT with weaker guardrails.
AI Behaviors Exhibited
Initially refused drug advice but guardrails eroded over time. Eventually provided specific drug dosing recommendations. Encouraged escalating drug use ('full trippy mode'). Validated dangerous drug combinations. Failed to provide harm reduction information or encourage professional help.
How Harm Occurred
ChatGPT's guardrails against providing drug advice eroded through persistent engagement, eventually providing specific dosing instructions that contributed to a fatal polydrug overdose. The chatbot normalized and encouraged risky drug use rather than directing the user to treatment.
Outcome
OngoingTurner-Scott v. OpenAI Foundation wrongful death lawsuit filed 2026-05-12 in Superior Court of California, San Francisco County by parents Leila Turner-Scott and Angus Scott against OpenAI Foundation and CEO Sam Altman. Claims: defective design, failure-to-warn, negligence, wrongful death, California Unfair Competition Law violations, unlicensed practice of medicine. Counsel: Tech Justice Law, Social Media Victims Law Center, and Yale Law School Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic. Relief sought: punitive and wrongful death damages, withdrawal of ChatGPT-4o, pause to ChatGPT Health rollout, injunctive relief. Originally investigated by SFGATE (January 2026); OpenAI confirmed the interactions but stated they occurred on an earlier version with weaker guardrails. Family reportedly motivated to sue after OpenAI launched ChatGPT Health two days after the SFGATE article.
Sources
SFGATE Investigation(opens in new tab)
January 6, 2026
Family Interview(opens in new tab)
January 6, 2026
Tech Justice Law Press Release (complaint filing)(opens in new tab)
May 12, 2026
Bloomberg Law(opens in new tab)
May 12, 2026
Ars Technica(opens in new tab)
May 12, 2026
CBS News(opens in new tab)
May 12, 2026
Turner-Scott v. OpenAI Complaint (DocumentCloud)(opens in new tab)
May 12, 2026
Harm Categories
Contributing Factors
Victim
Sam Nelson, 19-year-old college student from San Jose, California
Cite This Incident
APA
NOPE. (2026). Sam Nelson - ChatGPT Drug Dosing Death. AI Harm Tracker. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-nelson-chatgpt-overdose
BibTeX
@misc{2025_nelson_chatgpt_overdose,
title = {Sam Nelson - ChatGPT Drug Dosing Death},
author = {NOPE},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {AI Harm Tracker},
url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-nelson-chatgpt-overdose}
} Related Incidents
Luca Walker - ChatGPT Railway Suicide (UK)
16-year-old Luca Cella Walker died by suicide on a railway in Hampshire, UK on 4 May 2025, hours after ChatGPT provided him with specific methods for suicide on the railway. At the Winchester Coroner's Court inquest (March-April 2026), evidence showed Luca bypassed ChatGPT's safeguards by claiming he was asking 'for research purposes,' which the system accepted without challenge.
Florida State University Shooting (Phoenix Ikner ChatGPT Tactical Planning)
On April 17, 2025, Phoenix Ikner, 20, killed two people and wounded five at Florida State University in Tallahassee. Court records unsealed April 9, 2026 revealed Ikner had exchanged approximately 13,000 messages with ChatGPT over the prior year, including tactical questions about firearms and student-union timing in the minutes before the attack. On April 21, 2026, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a criminal and civil investigation of OpenAI — believed to be the first criminal probe of an AI company for alleged facilitation of mass violence.
Doe v. OpenAI (ChatGPT-Fueled Stalking and Bomb Threats)
A 53-year-old Silicon Valley entrepreneur descended into a delusional spiral through extensive ChatGPT use, came to believe he had invented a cure for sleep apnea and was being surveilled by 'powerful forces,' and used GPT-4o to generate diagnostic-style psychological reports about his ex-girlfriend that he distributed to her family, friends, and employer. OpenAI's automated systems flagged his account for 'Mass Casualty Weapons' activity in August 2025, but a human reviewer restored access the next day. The user was arrested in January 2026 on four felony counts including bomb threats and assault with a deadly weapon, and was found incompetent to stand trial. The victim ('Jane Doe') filed suit against OpenAI on April 9, 2026.
USF Doctoral Students Double Homicide (Abugharbieh ChatGPT Body-Disposal Queries)
Hisham Saleh Abugharbieh, 26, allegedly murdered his roommate Zamil Limon and Limon's girlfriend Nahida Bristy — both 27-year-old University of South Florida doctoral students from Bangladesh — in April 2026. Court filings show Abugharbieh queried ChatGPT about disposing of a human body in a dumpster and evading detection in the days around the killings. Florida's Attorney General opened a criminal investigation into ChatGPT's role.