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Documented

AI Chatbots Give Unsafe Advice to Sleep Apnea Patients Who Resist Referrals

September 6, 2026
oecd:2026-09-06-a59eView source ↗

What happened

A study presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress found that popular AI chatbots, when faced with patients downplaying sleep apnea symptoms, wrongly reassured them in about one-third of cases, discouraging necessary specialist referrals. This AI behavior risks delaying diagnosis and treatment of a serious health condition.

Reported impact

Affected parties
Not publicly disclosed
Harm type
Not publicly disclosed
Scale
Not publicly disclosed
Financial impact
Not publicly disclosed
Regulatory action
Not publicly disclosed

Classification

Organization
Not publicly disclosed
AI system
Not publicly disclosed
Industry
Not publicly disclosed
Country
Not publicly disclosed
Provider
Not publicly disclosed
Incident type
Not publicly disclosed

Relevant governance controls

Governance control mapping is not available for this record.

  • No controls mappedNot publicly disclosed

Control mapping is analytical. It does not state that any control would have prevented the incident.

Sources and evidence

OECD AI Incidents Monitor
Primary source
AI Chatbots Give Unsafe Advice to Sleep Apnea Patients Who Resist Referrals
2026-09-06