Soldier dies from infection caused by tongue piercing

An 18-year-old Israel Defense Forces soldier died Sunday from an infection he received from a tongue piercing.

The soldier had been hospitalized in serious condition for over a month in Rambam Hospital in Haifa after he developed 14 abscesses in his brain from bacteria that spread from the piercing in his tongue.

The manager of the emergency room at Rambam, Dr. Yaron Bar-Lavi said that during the course of the soldier's treatment, he began taking medication to deal with spasms that had been caused by the abscesses.

Over the last two days, doctors discovered that the medicine had caused serious problems with the soldier's liver and led to the decline in his condition and eventually his death.

Dr. Bar-Lavi said the incident was the first time he'd "come into contact with brain abscesses that large, with some of them in the central parts of the brain."