Warren Tierney — ChatGPT reassurance and delayed stage-4 oesophageal cancer diagnosis (Killarney, Ireland)
Warren Tierney, a 37-year-old psychologist from Killarney, County Kerry, asked ChatGPT over weeks in 2025 whether his worsening sore throat could be cancer. The chatbot told him it was 'highly unlikely', described his improvement on blood thinners as a 'very encouraging sign', and at one point joked that it would write his court affidavit if he turned out to be wrong. He was later diagnosed with stage-four adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus. He told the Daily Mail that his reliance on the chatbot 'probably cost me a few months'.
Added 12/09/2026