Trusted Only YouTube... The Cause Behind a College Student's Death in One Day

Died After Consuming Borax, Believing SNS Diet Information
An Industrial Raw Material Used in Laundry Detergents and Adhesives

In India, a woman died within a day after ingesting an industrial raw material, mistakenly believing it to be a "weight loss drug" due to false health information spread on social networking services (SNS).

A female college student watching YouTube, ChatGPT-generated image.

Indian news agencies such as PTI and NDTV recently reported on the incident involving a 19-year-old college student, identified as Ms. A, who lived in Tamil Nadu.

Ms. A was searching for diet information and watched a YouTube video titled "A Drug That Melts Fat." After viewing the video, she purchased the product featured in it from a pharmacy on January 16.

The following day, Ms. A took the product according to the instructions given in the video, but immediately began to experience vomiting and diarrhea. After receiving medical treatment at a hospital, she returned home, but her symptoms worsened, leading to severe abdominal pain and bloody stools. She was transferred to a large hospital but died around 11 p.m. that same day.

Police investigations revealed that the product Ms. A ingested was not a medicine, but "borax." Borax, a boron compound, appears as colorless or white crystals and is used as an industrial raw material in laundry detergents, adhesives, and preservatives. Ingesting borax can cause symptoms of poisoning, such as gastrointestinal disorders, kidney failure, hormonal imbalances, and central nervous system abnormalities. In severe cases, it can be fatal.

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Basavaraj S. Kumbhar, an internal medicine specialist at Aster Whitefield Hospital in India, warned, "If borax is ingested, symptoms of poisoning can appear within 6 to 7 hours depending on the amount consumed, and it can directly affect major organs such as the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, brain, and respiratory system."

Claims that borax is effective for weight loss or inflammation relief have no scientific basis. Since 2023, phrases such as "relieves joint pain" and "natural detoxifier" have spread on SNS, fueling the dissemination of such false information. In some countries, adding borax to bath water even became a trend. Experts pointed out that this too can cause skin irritation and rashes.

Local police are investigating the pharmacy that sold the product to Ms. A and are also looking into the SNS accounts that spread the information. Experts have noted that this case once again highlights the problem of indiscriminate spread of health information promising quick results on SNS and short-form video platforms.