Valium Sulphate - Midsomer Murders "Written in Blood"

[P***@gmail.com]

I just watched 'Written in Blood', on DVD, one of the Midsomer Murders
series.

In it one of the characters is murdered by poisoning. It is shown to be
a slow acting poison that leads to death in a few hours, but starts by
making the poisoned person appear drunk. The drug is said, a number of
times, to be 'Valium Sulphate'.

I can find no reference to Valium Sulphate on a google search.
According to Wikipaedia the LD50 for Valium (a proprietory name for a
diazapine) is 720 mg/kg. This would mean that, if they are talking
about Valium (and I can't, as I say, see a reference to a sulphate of
Valium), somebody of 70kg would have to ingest at least 52.5 grams of
the stuff, that isn't a huge amount, but it seems far too much to
dissolve in a glass of wine and have it unnoticed.

So, is the series wrong about this? Did I repeatedly mis-hear the name
of the drug? Would 50-100g of Valium dissolve in a glass of wine?

I know that the series is supposed to be a bit of fun, and not accurate
in many respects, but most writers try to get their poison information
reasonably accurate.

[mopurist]

Plan on killing someone?

Could it have been thallium sulfate?

[P***@gmail.com]

Post by mopurist
Plan on killing someone?
Could it have been thallium sulfate?

Now I hadn't considered that - it does sound similar. I saw the film
the 'Young poisoner's handbook' a few years ago, and that involved
quite a few poisonings with thallium. The symptoms were very different,
involving a long, lingering death over several months - it might be
different for one large exposure. It's a very good film, though,
apparently based on a genuine incident.

The LD50 is 16-23.5 mg/kg so that's about a 20th of the dose required
for Valium, and it sounds much more likely that that could be in a
glass of wine.

Thank you, yes, I think you have the answer. I was listening very
carefully and both the actors, I'm sure said 'valium' - but it is
perfectly feasible that the author had it right and they got it wrong,
not knowing about thallium, but knowing about Valium.

I seem to recall that thallium can be obtained for use in photography,
or was obtainable for that use. The chap in the Midsomer Murders film
wasn't a photographer.

No, I'm not planning on killing anybody. Besides, the CIA (and they
should know) recommend against the use of poison and firearms to kill
anybody - their preferred method is a massive explosion, much less
likely to fail.

[P***@gmail.com]

Post by mopurist
Plan on killing someone?
Could it have been thallium sulfate?

Now I hadn't considered that - it does sound similar. I saw the film
the 'Young poisoner's handbook' a few years ago, and that involved
quite a few poisonings with thallium. The symptoms were very different,
involving a long, lingering death over several months - it might be
different for one large exposure. It's a very good film, though,
apparently based on a genuine incident.

The LD50 is 16-23.5 mg/kg so that's about a 20th of the dose required
for Valium, and it sounds much more likely that that could be in a
glass of wine.

Thank you, yes, I think you have the answer. I was listening very
carefully and both the actors, I'm sure said 'valium' - but it is
perfectly feasible that the author had it right and they got it wrong,
not knowing about thallium, but knowing about Valium.

I seem to recall that thallium can be obtained for use in photography,
or was obtainable for that use. The chap in the Midsomer Murders film
wasn't a photographer.

No, I'm not planning on killing anybody. Besides, the CIA (and they
should know) recommend against the use of poison and firearms to kill
anybody - their preferred method is a massive explosion, much less
likely to fail.

[Stanley L. Moore]

Post by P***@gmail.com

Post by mopurist
Plan on killing someone?
Could it have been thallium sulfate?

Now I hadn't considered that - it does sound similar. I saw the film
the 'Young poisoner's handbook' a few years ago, and that involved
quite a few poisonings with thallium. The symptoms were very different,
involving a long, lingering death over several months - it might be
different for one large exposure. It's a very good film, though,
apparently based on a genuine incident.
The LD50 is 16-23.5 mg/kg so that's about a 20th of the dose required
for Valium, and it sounds much more likely that that could be in a
glass of wine.
Thank you, yes, I think you have the answer. I was listening very
carefully and both the actors, I'm sure said 'valium' - but it is
perfectly feasible that the author had it right and they got it wrong,
not knowing about thallium, but knowing about Valium.

I notice that often authors will make things deliberately wrong in books and
films presumbaly so as not to give anyone ideas. If you actually tried to
kill someone using a book you would be caught. Take care

[Peter H.M.Brooks]

Post by Stanley L. Moore

Post by P***@gmail.com

Post by mopurist
Plan on killing someone?
Could it have been thallium sulfate?

Now I hadn't considered that - it does sound similar. I saw the film
the 'Young poisoner's handbook' a few years ago, and that involved
quite a few poisonings with thallium. The symptoms were very different,
involving a long, lingering death over several months - it might be
different for one large exposure. It's a very good film, though,
apparently based on a genuine incident.
The LD50 is 16-23.5 mg/kg so that's about a 20th of the dose required
for Valium, and it sounds much more likely that that could be in a
glass of wine.
Thank you, yes, I think you have the answer. I was listening very
carefully and both the actors, I'm sure said 'valium' - but it is
perfectly feasible that the author had it right and they got it wrong,
not knowing about thallium, but knowing about Valium.

I notice that often authors will make things deliberately wrong in books and
films presumbaly so as not to give anyone ideas. If you actually tried to
kill someone using a book you would be caught. Take care

I think that it rather depends on the book. The 'Anarchist's Cookbook'
is, I understand, quite accurate.

I agree, though, that it is quite likely that they mispronounced it
deliberately, as I agreed earlier in this thread. I've heard of somebody
who did try to kill herself with Valium. She slept for several days but
was fine when she woke up.