Medicines may be poisons! Friends; I want to tell you briefly something that I read in an Agatha Christie ( she is my favourite author) novel. There is a rich old lady. She has many inheritors who desperately want her to die. She also has a companion, to whom she has left a legacy. So naturally this companion is also among the inheritors. On a dark night the old woman dies after suffering from symptoms of severe strychnine poisoning. Nobody suspects anything, the woman is buried. But enters the clever detective, Hercule Poirot (my favourite detective). So he makes a lot of detection and finally finds the following. The murder is done by the wicked companion. WHY? For getting the inheritance. HOW? The doctor prescribed to the old woman a tonic containg NUX VOMICA tincture which contains strychnine in small quantities in the dissolved state. This is to be taken one table spoonful at bed time for appetizing and general strength. The doctor also prescribed for the old lady powders of potassium bromide for her sleep. Bromide salts were earlier prescribed for sleep. This is to be taken, at bed time one powder a day. The old woman got for herself a month's supply. The companion was administering the medicines everyday. She studied and got knowledge about incompatibilities. WHAT WAS DONE? On a given day the companion took some 15 packets of potassium bromide and kept them in the tonic bottle and mixed the bottle thoroughly. Potassium bromide being very soluble in water dissolved in water and threw out the strychnine which is poorly soluble. The strychnine settled as a precipitate at the bottom. The companion asked the old lady for leave and went home. The old lady started taking the medicines herself. She was not shaking the bottle as it is supposed to be a solution. When the last tablespoon was taken, it contained a toxic concentration of strychnine which as a poison killed her. FINALLY: Because of Hercule Poirot's ingenuity the culprit was brought to book. Reference: Agatha Christie ( That is all I remember. I will try to rectify this soon. Can anybody help?) In a nutshell! Medicines can be poisonous. Old generations knew about incompatibilities. Simple mistakes can lead to huge errors. It is wise if somebody administers medicines to children and to old people. Money can be bad! Treat it with caution. This blog does not contain any plagiarised material.