Before a new over-the-counter remedy, ask AI what to ask your pharmacist
In a story published by OpenAI, Rich Kaplan, a Seattle man who spent decades at Microsoft and lives with a rare autoimmune clotting disorder that affects his kidneys, says he checks with ChatGPT before taking any over-the-counter medicine. Once it flagged a stomach remedy as risky for someone with his kidney disease, so he passed on it.
What they did
He takes many prescriptions, so he brought his medication list over from his patient portal and asked ChatGPT to keep it on hand. When he's considering an over-the-counter medicine, he checks with ChatGPT first. He also asks it to summarize visit notes and suggest questions for his next appointment, so he can talk things through better with his doctors.
How it went
The stomach-remedy warning is the one the story highlights. He passed on it. More broadly, he says ChatGPT helps him stay involved in his own care, and his advice to other people is that "you have to move past the fear."
Worth knowing
This is a company's own customer story, not an independent report. AI can miss interactions or flag the wrong ones. Use its answer as a list of questions for your pharmacist or doctor, not as a yes or no. Never start, stop, or change a medicine because of a chatbot. If you save a medication list in an AI app, the company stores it. Leave out your name, birth date, and insurance or member numbers, and check the app's memory and privacy settings. For any sudden or serious symptom, call your doctor or emergency services.
Try it yourself
Copy this into ChatGPT (or any AI assistant). Replace the parts in [brackets] with your own details.
I'm thinking about taking [over-the-counter product and dose]. Here is my medication list, names and doses only: [list]. My conditions include [conditions, in general terms]. I've left out my name, birth date, and insurance numbers. Don't tell me whether it's safe. Instead, (1) list any possible concerns with my medicines or conditions, (2) say how strong the evidence is for each, and (3) give me three questions to ask my pharmacist before I buy it. Remind me to confirm with my pharmacist or doctor.
Source: OpenAI (story about Rich Kaplan), OpenAI Academy, Jan 7, 2026. Read the original →
A company's own story about its product. Not independent. Summarized in our own words. Spotted a mistake or want this removed? Tell us.