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I've long been apprehensive about acetaminophen (Tylenol etc.) based on a conversation I had years ago with a toxicologist. His opinion was that it never should have been made an over the counter drug based on how toxic it is to the liver in relatively low multiples of the theraputic dose.
Based on how many acetaminophen overdoses I've seen in the ER over the years it's my opnion that he was correct and long ago I banned all over the counter forms of it from my house. I couldn't, however, avoid it in prescription drugs like the Vicodin I recently had to take for pain.
This years crop of stories on the subject are really beginning to concern me;
among about 200 others....
Salient points;
IMO this is not good.
Dr. Mordrid
Based on how many acetaminophen overdoses I've seen in the ER over the years it's my opnion that he was correct and long ago I banned all over the counter forms of it from my house. I couldn't, however, avoid it in prescription drugs like the Vicodin I recently had to take for pain.
This years crop of stories on the subject are really beginning to concern me;
among about 200 others....
Salient points;
The action comes after a recently published study found that toxic poisoning with acetaminophen -- rather than hepatitis -- is the leading cause of acute liver failure:
*Although acute liver failure is rare, acetaminophen accounts for almost 50 percent of cases, more than is caused by prescription drugs.
*(in contrast) Viral hepatitis was the cause of death in 12 percent of liver failure cases that resulted in hospitalization, according to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
*More than 100,000 calls annually to poison control centers result from overdoses of acetaminophen.
*Acetaminophen overdoses result in about 450 deaths annually (as well as 56,000 emergency room visits), 2,600 hospitalizations and a number of liver transplants.
The monetary costs are significant. For example, assuming an average emergency room cost of $1,000, Acetaminophen overdoses cost $56 million dollars annually.
*Although acute liver failure is rare, acetaminophen accounts for almost 50 percent of cases, more than is caused by prescription drugs.
*(in contrast) Viral hepatitis was the cause of death in 12 percent of liver failure cases that resulted in hospitalization, according to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
*More than 100,000 calls annually to poison control centers result from overdoses of acetaminophen.
*Acetaminophen overdoses result in about 450 deaths annually (as well as 56,000 emergency room visits), 2,600 hospitalizations and a number of liver transplants.
The monetary costs are significant. For example, assuming an average emergency room cost of $1,000, Acetaminophen overdoses cost $56 million dollars annually.
Dr. Mordrid
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