None whatsoever. This urban legend has been debunked for years.
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Lilith — 6 months ago(September 07, 2025 04:42 PM)
I remember that scare when cyanide was found in Tylenol, but wasn't that either a batch issue or a local issue where some sickos were tampering with individual bottles? I still remember them taking all forms of acetaminophen off of the shelves for ages.
For what it's worth, Tylenol can still be dangerous because of how it taxes the liver. I try my best to limit my Tylenol intake, but sadly, I still take it.
"Your emotional state is not my responsibility." – Warren Smith -
dbentley666 — 6 months ago(September 07, 2025 05:35 PM)
I watched a documentary on this, and it seems likely that there was a screw up at the factory end (the factory claimed that there were no supplies of cyanide near the pill manufacturing process, and apparently there
were
). The theory that there was tampering by malicious individuals who bought or stole individual bottles from the stores was simply too far-fetched. They'd have had to open the pills, put cyanide in 3 or 4 tablets, leaving the others untouched. Much more likely to be a blunder at the McNeil end, which they successfully covered up. -
Lilith — 6 months ago(September 07, 2025 06:05 PM)
I know for a while that we were encouraged to check the silver or white seal over the tablets in the bottle when we opened them and to look for possible signs of tampering, such as a syringe hole. If I'm not mistaken, this was also when they began shrink-wrapping some of the boxes, but they stopped doing that now.
Why the heck would there suddenly be cyanide near a facility that never had that before? I agree it was a fluke, but I remember the panic and frustration felt by many.
"Your emotional state is not my responsibility." – Warren Smith -
dbentley666 — 6 months ago(September 07, 2025 06:10 PM)
Apparently the cyanide was there for some other purpose (it's an industrial cleaning agent). In a big industrial setting, where literally thousands of people may be moving stuff around, it's possible someone tossed a couple of packets into the mix. Terrible thought, but that's why we have (for the most part) such stringent checks on quantity and quality. You may (or may not) be surprised to know that munitions factories regularly find lethal weapons and ammo missing, so some cyanide going around is hardly surprising. I guess we should be grateful it doesn't happen more often.