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Claim: A few drops of Visine brand eye drops taken internally will cause diarrhea.
Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2003]
Origins: 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.
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 not only won't produce diarrhea in the one unfortunate enough to drink the concoction, but ingestion of the product is downright dangerous, making this "harmless" form of retaliation fraught with hazard. The active ingredient in Visine eye drops is
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 product would have that effect. Of 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 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 Yet it is not only toddlers who risk central nervous system shutdown or other dire results if they swallow Visine. In 1995 an adult customer at a Visine poisoning has also featured in a murder. In 2001, Damien Kawai, a member of the U.S. Air Force, killed his roommate and fellow airman by strangling the young man, then attempted to conceal the crime by slitting the wrists of the corpse to make the death appear to be suicide. Kawai admitted to earlier spiking the roommate's beer with Visine, under the belief this would render the doomed man unconscious. (It actually caused him to vomit and suffer labored breathing). In May 2002, 19-year-old Damien Kawai was sentenced to life in prison for the In October 2003, an unnamed Southern California high school student put eye drops in teacher's water bottle in an attempt to give his instructor severe diarrhea. Others in the class who saw the act removed the adulterated beverage before the intended victim could drink it. The student responsible has been charged with tampering with a drink with intent to cause harm. In June 2006, five Wisconsin high school students trying to pull the Visine prank poured about a quarter of a bottle of the eyedrops into a classmate's water. The victim spent several days in the hospital recovering from reactions to the poisoning that included a dangerously low heart rate and blood pressure. Each of the five "pranksters" pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts of battery and disorderly conduct and received sentences of 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 Barbara "poison penned" Mikkelson Sightings: In an episode of television's CSI ("Revenge Is Best Served Cold," original air date Additional information:
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