Zhu Ling (poisoning victim)

After being attended to by Professor Li Shunwei (李舜伟), he informed Zhu Ling's mother that her condition was "very similar to a case of Thallium poisoning at Tsinghua University in the 1960s. In the medical records for that day, Professor Li Shunwei described Zhu Ling's condition as follows: "(the patient is) mentally clear and articulate, experiencing significant hair loss, limbs hurt by touching, redness at the fingertips and soles which are not swollen but with elevated temperature.

Reduced sensation in the fingertips and below the knees, symmetric knee reflex.

Ankle reflex is slow.

Highly suspicious of heavy metal poisoning, such as Thallium and Beryllium, consulted with Director Zhang Shoulin and professors including Ding Maobai". Upon admission, Zhu Ling "had clear Mees lines on her fingernails, raising suspicion of possible Thallium poisoning". To further clarify the diagnosis, Professor Li Shunwei immediately contacted Professor Zhang Shoulin from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Institute of Labor Health for Zhu Ling's diagnosis. On the same day, Zhu Ling, accompanied by her mother, went to Professor Zhang Shoulin for examination. Based on the symptoms, Zhang Shoulin suspected acute Thallium or Arsenic poisoning, but the institute was unable to conduct the necessary tests. Zhu Ling denied that she had had any contact with Thallium in class, a claim which was confirmed by Tsinghua's chemistry department.

PUMCH also claimed the lack of equipment to perform such tests.

As a result, the hospital, where the suspect Sun Wei's mother also works at, did not conduct any Thallium poisoning tests.

Zhu Ling (, 24 April 1973 – 22 December 2023) was best known as the victim of an unsolved 1995 thallium poisoning case in Beijing, China.

Her symptoms were posted to the Internet via a Usenet newsgroup by her friend from Peking University, Bei Zhicheng, and were subsequently proven to be caused by thallium poisoning.

Her case was then reviewed by physicians in many different countries who examined her symptoms and made suggestions as to diagnoses and treatment.

This effort was recognized as the first large-scale tele-medicine trial.

Her life was ultimately saved, but she suffered serious neurological damage along with permanent physical impairment, and died in December 2023.

This case drew great attention in the Chinese media, because the victim and the suspect were living in the same dormitory in the most prestigious university in the People's Republic of China, and in addition the case was never solved.

Internet discussion of the crime has continued since then and became a hot topic on major online Chinese communities very frequently as a high-profile cold case.

In 1994, Zhu Ling was a sophomore in Class Wuhua2 (Class 2 majored in physical chemistry) at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Classmates described her as attractive, intelligent, and talented, with an interest in music.

She began to show strange and debilitating symptoms starting from November 24, 1994, when she reported experiencing acute abdominal pain, and loss of appetite.

Then (on December 5), discomfort in the stomach and her hair began to fall.

On the night of December 11, 1994, despite her illness, Zhu Ling insisted on performing for the Tsinghua Chinese Orchestra at the Beijing Concert Hall, where she performed a solo of the Guqin piece "Guangling San".

She had to wear glasses because her eyes were in pain and sometimes she was unable to see anything.

Her hair was completely lost within a few days after the performance.

Following her hospitalization at Beijing Tongren Hospital on Dec 23, 1994, her condition gradually improved and she was allowed to return to school.

She was discharged from the hospital on Jan 23, 1995.

One Feb 20, 1995, a new semester started.

On Feb 27, shortly after returning to school, Zhu Ling experienced intense pain in both legs.

On Mar 6, Zhu Ling's condition deteriorated, experiencing severe leg pain and dizziness.

Her parents took her to Peking University Third Hospital for treatment.

Professor Chen Zhenyang (陈震阳), who was involved in the diagnosis and treatment, documented in his paper "Introduction to a Rare Case of Severe Thallium Poisoning" that on March 8, Zhu Ling "once again experienced intense foot pain, pain in the calves, so severe that she dared not touch any objects. This time it was more severe than the before, and the condition developed rapidly, extending to the lower back."

On Mar 9, 1995, Zhu Ling's parents took her to the neurology specialist clinic in Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH).

On Mar 15, 1995, Zhu Ling was admitted to the neurology ward of PUMCH, complaining of "hair loss, abdominal pain, and joint and muscle pain for 3 months, pain in the distant ends of both lower limbs for 7 days, dizziness for 3 days. The patient had abdominal pain without obvious cause for the past 3 months before admission (December 8, 1994), characterized by continuous dull pain with intermittent colicky pain. Hair loss occurred 3 months later, accompanied by soreness in both shoulders and knee joints."

The initial diagnosis was "peripheral neuropathy, cause of limb pain and redness to be determined".

The lumbar puncture performed on the same day yielded normal results.

The next day, a neurology consultation ruled out autoimmune diseases, poisoning, and metabolic diseases.

Peking Union Medical College Hospital treated her according to the diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome.

After admission, her condition worsened rapidly, affecting her chest, her facial muscles became distorted, her speech was unclear.

She was unable to drink water without choking, and breathing difficulties emerged.

Treatment involved broad-spectrum antibiotics, antiviral drugs, corticosteroids, immunosuppressants, and albumin injections, among other measures.

On Mar 20, Zhu Ling fell into a coma.

On Mar 23, Zhu Ling experienced central respiratory failure, and Peking Union Medical College Hospital performed a tracheotomy.

On the same day, after a comprehensive neurology discussion, the diagnosis was revised to acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), and treatment involved plasma exchange therapy.

On March 24th, Peking Union Medical College Hospital began plasma exchange therapy for Zhu Ling, and this continued until April 18th, totaling 7 sessions, with each session involving 1400-2000 milliliters of plasma, amounting to a total of 10,000 milliliters of plasma.