Sodium pentathol is a barbiturate drug medically used as a short-acting general anaesthetic. As a side effect at low doses, it lowers the inhibitions of those into whom it is injected. This makes it difficult for a person under its influence to lie coherently. It is the closest real-life equivalent to the popular fictional plot device of "truth serum."
Sodium pentathol in Southern Victory[]
In 1943, at the insistence of Captain Vic Hodding, US Army surgeon Dr. Leonard O'Doull administered sodium pentathol to Confederate quartermaster colonel Travis W. W. Oliphant when Oliphant, a POW, was interrogated by US Army Intelligence.[1]
References[]
- ↑ See The Grapple, pg. 139.