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Pop quiz:
By Bruce Ackerman
Posted on December 13, 2005, Printed on February 13, 2012
http://www.alternet.org/story/29504/pop_quiz%3A
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).
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Evan Derkacz is a New York-based writer and contributor to AlterNet.
© 2012 All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/29504/
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