https://techjusticelaw.org/2026/01/12/tjlp-statement-on-the-introduction...
For Immediate Release: January 12, 2026
Contact: press@techjusticelaw.org
Tech Justice Law Project Statement on the Introduction of ChatGPT Health
Tech Justice Law Project (TJLP) Senior Staff Attorney Melodi Dinçer issued the following statement warning of the real-world harms associated with OpenAI’s introduction of ChatGPT Health:
“Despite their marketing efforts, OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT Health is not meant to improve peoples’ health outcomes and provide necessary medical care to those in need. Instead, it is a strategic business move for a company openly struggling to make its flagship product worth the immense costs of development, as well as the growing costs of legal action on behalf of people harmed by ChatGPT, including several of TJLP’s clients.
“With ChatGPT Health, OpenAI and Sam Altman are capitalizing on the struggle for millions of people and families to access affordable, quality medical care. As we’ve seen time and time again, this product is the latest attempt by the tech industry to monetize social problems that require non-commercial solutions, entrenching profit and power while ordinary people continue to suffer.
“OpenAI seeks to gain from ChatGPT Health in two key ways. First, this new product will give OpenAI access to the health data of millions of people, some of the most intimate and sensitive forms of personal information, allowing one company to consolidate health data across various apps and target people based on health trends and conditions without their awareness. Beyond OpenAI’s own use of this information, data brokers and hackers also have a great appetite for health data, and there is no guarantee that OpenAI will be able to keep this intimate information secure – especially concerning mental health, which ChatGPT interactions have preyed on for several of our clients.
“Second, ChatGPT Health could help shield OpenAI from legal liability in both ongoing and future lawsuits by allowing the company to claim medical privilege over any health-related data shared on its products. If OpenAI could claim privilege over such information, including users’ own inputs related to their own health, courts would not be able to review relevant evidence in cases where individuals and families are suing OpenAI to seek justice for the harms they experience as a result of using ChatGPT. From people who have died by suicide at ChatGPT’s inducement to those experiencing delusional disorders thanks to ChatGPT features that isolate them from their real-world friends and family, OpenAI would be able to keep evidence of its role in exacerbating these mental health conditions from public scrutiny by claiming the same confidentiality rights people usually have with their doctors only.
“With ChatGPT Health, OpenAI makes yet another attempt to operate without any accountability for the real-world harm that real people are suffering because of their products.”
Image Attribution: Ambient Scribes by Fanny Maurel & Digit / Better Images of AI / CC-BY 4.0
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THE TECH JUSTICE LAW PROJECT (“TJLP”) is a pioneering, women-led strategic litigation and advocacy organization bringing justice to communities harmed by tech products. TJLP co-filed the first-ever, groundbreaking lawsuits against a popular, “AI” chatbot product developed with support by Google, Character AI, and its co-founders, raising public awareness of chatbots’ real-world harms. TJLP’s cases and advocacy have also focused government attention on harmful chatbots, including unlicensed therapy chatbots. TJLP brings together legal experts, policy advocates, digital rights organizations, and technologists to ensure that our legal protections are fit for the digital age.
