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The desire for revenge runs deep in all of us. Everyone who has ever been wronged has at one time or another felt the urge to strike a counterblow. Most of us don't indulge in this pursuit because we've deemed the cost of getting even too high to justify the benefits gained, yet we revel in thoughts of comeuppances doled out by others. Such imaginings give us the chance to vicariously experience the joys of retribution, joys we're not likely to sample in real life, such as the following: The Visine slipped into the drink pay back carries additional appeal because it seems to offer an effective yet harmless form of retaliation that could be easily and furtively administered even by the wimpiest of revenge seekers. Also, the mental image of an enemy sent hotfooting for the toilet is a hugely satisfying one, especially in a society that views fecal output as something to be ashamed of. An act of spite that forces the victim into making repeated visits to the john is regarded as not only extremely inconveniencing to him, but degrading as well. Yet all is not well in revenge land. While it is true that Visine is readily obtainable (it's an non-prescription eye drop manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer), a drink spiked with it is not a sure-fire means of producing diarrhea in the one unfortunate enough to swallow it, and ingestion of such a concoction is downright dangerous, making this harmless form of retaliation fraught with hazard. The active ingredient in Visine eye drops is Tetrahydrozoline HCl 0.05%. Swallowing this substance can result in a number of nasty effects, including: Pfizer's cautions to users of Visine include: If swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away. In view of the above list, that advice should not be taken lightly. One thing tetrahydrozoline has not been known to do is to cause sudden onset bouts of severe diarrhea. Although this belief has been around for decades, and everyone knows someone who knows someone who really did administer a Visine mickey to a deserving miscreant and thereby caused him an immediate serious case of the trots, there's no documented evidence the producthas that effect. Of all the Visine poisoning cases studied by medical observers, we found none that mentioned diarrheal output brought about by the drug. Yet if Visine doesn't cause diarrhea, it has done things far more terrible. Drinking it can (and has) caused severe depression of the central nervous system. In 1996, a two-year-old child who ingested at most 2 to 3 mL of Visine eye drops became dangerously lethargic and unresponsive to every stimulus except deep pain. Thanks to prompt medical attention the child recovered, but not before enduring intubation and two days' worth of mechanically-assisted breathing. In June 2014, a 22-year-old woman named Samantha Elizabeth Unger was arrested in Thurmont, Maryland, and charged with aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of children. According to police, Unger confessed to poisoning her 3-year-old son by putting Visine in his water bottle and juice bottle (the boy was hospitalized several times but survived) and also causing her 1-year-old son to fall ill when he accidentally consumed the poisoned drinks she had made for his brother. In January 2015 Unger pleaded guilty to six counts of aggravated assault of a victim less than six years old and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. Medical literature reports other cases of small children brought to the brink of crisis by ingestion of tiny amounts of over-the-counter eye drops. The danger is real, and parents are well advised to keep eye drops away from children. Yet it is not only toddlers who risk central nervous system shutdown or other dire results if they swallow Visine, as demonstrated by the following examples: Revenge seekers still not quite convinced that a Visine mickey finn won't produce the diarrheal results they crave, or that the drinking of such a potion could potentially result in a life-threatening medical crisis in the object of their prank, should consider one final fact: the act of secreting noxious substances in ingestibles for the purpose of bringing harm to others is called poisoning. It matters not if actual harm results from the attempt — the act itself is enough to land one in the hoosegow. Sightings: In an episode of television's CSI (Revenge Is Best Served Cold, original air date 26 September 2002), a drink spiked in this fashion caused a death when the eye drops initiated a fatal reaction with chocolate the victim had eaten.
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