Is the recipient of the ricin doomed after ingestion?
In Breaking Bad, does Lydia still have any chance to recover after being poisoned by a cup of tea with ricin in it? Is there no way she can survive this? I'm not sure, but I think Brock was able to recover from it somehow.
Best Answer
According to Wikipedia: "Oral exposure to ricin is far less toxic [than injection or inhalation]...By ingestion, the pathology of ricin is largely restricted to the gastrointestinal tract where it may cause mucosal injuries; with appropriate treatment, most patients will make a full recovery." So while this was a nicely creepy bit of plotting, it certainly seems possible that Lydia's real-world chances of survival would be significantly better than we're meant to infer.
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Could Lydia have survived the ricin?
In this fictional universe, the answer is no. Walt is/was highly inteligent and meticulous. In planning the death of Lydia, he would remove any chance of it having any other possiblilty than what he choose for her. Looking for proof? The writers wrote Walter a P2P formula that does not exist.Does ricin cause death?
Ricin is very toxic. It works by getting inside the cells of a person's body and preventing the cells from making the proteins they need. Without the proteins, cells die. Eventually this is harmful to the whole body, and may cause death.Who has been killed by ricin?
In 1978, Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian writer and journalist who was living in London, died after he was attacked by a man with an umbrella. The umbrella had been rigged to inject a poison ricin pellet under Markov's skin. In the 1940s the U.S. military experimented with using ricin as a possible warfare agent.Why did Walt hide the ricin?
Ricin is a poison that Walter White prepares twice. Even though it is not the fastest-acting method of killing, Walt prefers it because it leaves behind little or no trace of its use on a victim.Ricin: The Perfect Poison
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Answer 2
I totally agree with MattD comment. Even if she managed to survive ricin ingestion, she is doomed. Jack and his crews are dead, it's just matter of time for police to get Lydia in custody. Remember, she was already a suspect in Gus Fring case.
Also several important points:
- At least 36 hours had passed after the ingestion. Lydia had already suffered the effects of ricin. I seriously doubt in this stage even appropriate treatment can cure Lydia.
From wikipedia:
Oral exposure to ricin is far less toxic and a lethal dose can be up to 30–40 milligrams per kilogram.
Let's assume Lydia's weight is around 55 kg. So she needs (0.04*55)grams = 2.2 grams. I believe Walt had way more than 2.0 grams ricin. So the dose would be more lethal.
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