Disclaimers and Referral Patterns for Medical Advice Across Urgency Levels: Large Language Model Evaluation Study

Current LLMs exhibit urgency-responsive safety mechanisms when providing medical advice. All evaluated models adaptively incorporate more explicit disclaimers and urgent referrals for higher-urgency queries. However, variability between LLMs highlights the need for standardized safety measures and appropriate regulatory frameworks. Although these findings indicate progress regarding safety concerns, the public availability of LLMs requires careful consideration to ensure consistent protection against patient harm while preserving the benefits of low-threshold access to health information.