Pop quiz:

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 10:01 AM on December 13, 2005.

It took Tylenol (a brand of acetaminophen) quite a while, and not a bit of money, to recover from the deaths from tampering a few years ago.

If you switched to aspirin, naproxen sodium, ibuprofen, cold compresses or drinking less you may have made a good choice.

Unadulterated (i.e. regular, not tampered-with) Acetaminophen turns out to be the leading cause of acute liver failure in the U.S.

Revere writes:

"This has been known for a few years, but the general public (and many health care providers) remain unaware of it. The 'therapeutic window' (the difference between a safe and harmful dose) is narrow and the drug is found in many different formulations (an estimated 200), often labeled non-aspirin pain relievers. Thus it is relatively easy to take several different over-the-counter and even prescription drugs (e.g., Percoset and Vicodin) that have acetaminophen in them and exceed the maximum recommended daily dose..."

This has been a public service message from Peek (via the knowledge base of Effect Measure).

--> Sign up for Peek in your inbox... every morning! (Go here and check Peek box).

Evan Derkacz is a New York-based writer and contributor to AlterNet.