Hangzhou hospital says a man took three times the standard antiviral dose after AI advice gave tablet counts, not grams, and developed acute kidney injury
Zhejiang Provincial Tongde Hospital in Hangzhou told Red Star News (relayed by China News Service on 26 January 2026) that a patient with a cold sore had recently used AI online to look up treatment, bought valaciclovir and took it as advised. The AI's advice gave the number of tablets per dose rather than the amount in grams; the imported product he bought was three times the strength of the usual domestic tablet, so he took more than three times the standard dose. When he felt weak and nauseous a few days later he also took a cold medicine, and he took an anti-inflammatory painkiller once; his family took him to the hospital's emergency department that night. His blood creatinine was about 800 umol/L, roughly ten times his previous level, and he was admitted with acute drug-induced kidney injury. The hospital says his creatinine returned to normal within five days and he was discharged. The AI tool and its exact wording are not identified.
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 16/10/2026