Death by Visine? - Yes, it Can Happen!

For many years, people have believed in an old urban legend that, by spiking someone's drink with eye drops, it would give him diarrhea, thus sending the unsuspecting victim off on the first of many trips to the bathroom. In fact, most eye drops do not cause this to happen and in fact, can lead to serious health complications with serious side effects including death.

Visine drops are popular products for many, are available without prescription, and are used to get the redness out of their eyes. These drops contain the active ingredients of potassium chloride and tetrahydrozoline hydrochloride. If ingested, either by accident or on purpose, tetrahydrozoline hydrochloride can cause dangerously low body temperature called hypothermia, blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, difficulty in breathing, or even a complete halt in breathing, elevating then dropping blood pressure, tremors, seizures, and coma. Any of these side effects are dangerous enough on their own, but when combined with possible prior existing health problems could possibly exacerbate the situation into a life or death call.

On January 9, 2009, a woman in Springfield, MO is facing first-degree assault charges that she attempted to harm or kill her husband by spiking his drink with Visine eye drops. On January 2007, another woman who worked as a waitress in a bar put Visine eye drops into two beers of an off-duty state trooper in Uniontown, PA. It was done as revenge for a previous arrest of her by the officer. In both of these cases, another person was aware of what had occurred, either as an observer or after being told by the defendant, and notified the proper authorities.

Other recent cases have included a schoolteacher in Cheyenne, Wyoming who was poisoned by a student who placed Visine eye drops into her drink in December 2007. It was done as a prank after watching a movie that used the eye drops in order to cause diarrhea in the victim. The teacher had to be hospitalized. On June 14, 2006, a woman put Visine in her friend's drink, causing him to suffer vomiting, rectal bleeding and difficult breathing, again allegedly after watching a prank seen on a movie called "Wedding Crashers". In a "murder for hire" plot, Robert Quarles of Indianapolis admitted he first tried to poison his wife with a whole bottle of Visine before attempting to hire a hit man.

Even so, accidental overdoses have occurred using Visine, especially among children. Although the product is safe when used in the recommended manner and for the specified purpose, an overdose by ingestion is very serious. Pfizer, the company that manufactures Visine, recommends that anyone that has ingested Visine to get medical attention or contact a poison control center immediately.

Sources:

Visine

Police: Waitress Spiked Trooper's Beer With Visine

Woman allegedly tries to kill hubby with eye drops