pentylenetetrazol

The traditional way of testing for antiepilepsy drugs involves the generation of epilepsy-like convulsions in rats and mice by administering electrical stimuli or chemicals such as pentylenetetrazol.

Developed by Drs. Theodore Koppanyi and Joseph Fazekas of Washington, D.C., the pills contain standard barbiturates and an added safety factor, pentylenetetrazol.

A powerful nerve stimulant, the safety factor counteracts the depressant effect of too much barbiturate, and long before the goofball addict drifts into euphoria or the would-be suicide passes out, pentylenetetrazol causes the unhappy user to vomit his medicine.