Is Your Kid Constipated? Nah, They Just Found Booze at CVS

If you suddenly find empty bottles of a homeopathic medicine to relieve constipation around your kid's bedroom, you needn't worry about their diet. You might want to go ahead and ground them.

Science blogger Yvette d'Entremont is an analytical chemist and she recently found a surprise ingredient in an over the counter constipation cure at CVS.

That ingredient? Straight up booze!

Yep. Yvette (better known as "SciBabe" on YouTube), recorded herself opening and downing six bottles of the laxative. She waited a half hour and then gave herself a breathalyzer.

She was way over the legal limit and tipsy ... but she still didn't have to poop.

"It doesn't do what it claims to do and it got me drunk," d'Entremont said. "I want people to be a little more discerning when they go to pick up a medication because you might end up with something with no medicine and a lot of alcohol in it."

The homeopathic cure can be purchased at CVS with no age requirement.

"It’s really just alcohol and water," d'Entremont said.

Since Yvette's video started being passed around on the web, CVS patrons have inquired about the issue on their Facebook page.

The pharmacy released this response: "Homeopathic products are regulated by the FDA. The alcohol content in this type of product is not unusual and our products should only be used as directed."

That prompted NBC to get on the case. Interestingly, when they pressed the FDA for a comment about this product, they responded with this statement:

Orally ingested drug products labeled as homeopathic are temporarily exempted from the maximum concentration limits for alcohol as an inactive ingredient in OTC drug products intended for oral ingestion."

Hmmm.

Now, all of that being said, is your kid going to get blasted on this homeopathic medicine?  Probably not. It took six bottles for Yvette to catch a buzz and each bottle sells for about 10 bucks a pop. Most teens probably don't have $60 laying around to waste on such an ineffective intoxicant.

Her report was more or less just warning that if you're looking for an effective laxative, this ain't it. Yvette also raises an eyebrow at this particular product being labeled as "natural and non-habit forming".

Her YouTube channel, by the way, is really entertaining. You should check it out and subscribe!