Tragedy of medical student who took banned ‘toxic’ diet tablets

Sarah Houston, 23, was found dead in her bedroom at the house she shared with other medical students in Brudenell Avenue, Hyde Park, Leeds, last September.

Wakefield Coroner’s Court heard Miss Houston, who was in her fourth year of medical school, had suffered from anorexia nervosa since the age of 15 and later struggled with bulimia.

She had been battling to overcome the disorder but, the hearing was told, had secretly been taking capsules of a fat-burning substance called dinitrophenol alongside her anti-depressants.

Dinitrophenol – referred to as DNP – is an industrial chemical that has been used as a herbicide but was widely available as a slimming aid in the 1930s before it was banned because of the extreme dangers it posed to human health.

It is still, however, available online and marketed for rapid weight loss and it is believed Miss Houston had ordered the drug via the internet.

Recording a verdict of death by misadventure, West Yorkshire Coroner David Hinchliff said at the time of her death Miss Houston had been making good progress.

“It’s extremely sad,” he said. “She was coping well with her studies, enjoying her life and looking forward to what in my view would have been a very useful and able career as a doctor.

“She was acquiring DNP I suspect on the internet and using it. She was still coming to terms with her body image and using what she thought was an appropriate aid to deal with that. She would not have known the degree of toxicity and what a dangerous substance this is. I intend to make recommendations to every government department I think is appropriate that will listen.

“I think the first step in what might be a very long road is to try and get that substance controlled and see what legislation might follow from that.”

The inquest heard how on the night before her death, Miss Houston had complained of feeling hot and was sweating and breathing heavily.

In a statement read out by her brother, James, 29, who is also a doctor, her family said: “In addition to being a sister, a daughter and a friend, to lose someone so young in this way only adds to our devastation.

“There have been at least 62 further deaths related to DNP. We as a family are distraught and are keen to make sure no other family suffer in this way.

“Whilst the Food Standards Agency has banned it from human consumption, its risks are not widely known and it does not seem to affect the ease at which it can be bought from the internet.

“It seems incomprehensible to us that such a toxic substance can be available in tablet form to be sold in the UK for human consumption across the internet.

“It is perhaps only through her death that the strongest message can come out.

“If anything can be learned from Sarah’s death then that might help a little bit in alleviating her loss.”

DC Kate Lonsdale said after the case: “We looked at Sarah’s laptop and we think that the drug was imported from Spain.

“The website does flag up that the product is not for human consumption but by selling it in tablet form, they are knowing full well that it is going to be used for weight loss.”