Overview
- A 60-year-old man followed ChatGPT’s suggestion to replace table salt with sodium bromide and after three months developed acne, excessive thirst, insomnia and progressive neuropsychiatric symptoms.
- He was involuntarily admitted to hospital after experiencing paranoia and auditory and visual hallucinations; he stabilized only after several weeks of risperidone treatment.
- The authors confirm the bromism diagnosis and note that the condition was largely eradicated after the FDA phased out bromide in medications during the 1970s and 1980s but can reemerge if toxic compounds are misused.
- Because the patient’s original ChatGPT conversation was unavailable, the paper’s authors replicated his query and verified that the chatbot suggested sodium bromide as a salt substitute without issuing explicit health warnings.
- Experts warn the case highlights large language models’ inability to contextualize medical advice and has prompted calls for stronger AI guardrails, improved chatbot traceability and clearer public guidance to seek professional medical counsel.