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Warnings On Caps Meant To Curb Tylenol Overdoses


cavanami

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Heard something bad about tylenol...

 

http://seattletimes.com/html/health/2021715932_tylenolrisksxml.html?syndication=rss

 

Overdoses from acetaminophen — the pain-relieving ingredient found in Tylenol — send 55,000 to 80,000 people in the U.S. to the emergency room each year and kill at least 500, according to the federal government.

 

Bottles of Tylenol sold in the U.S. will soon bear red warnings alerting users to the potentially fatal risks of taking too much of the popular pain reliever.

The unusual step comes amid a growing number of lawsuits and pressure from the federal government that could have widespread ramifications for a medicine taken by millions of people every day.

Johnson & Johnson says the warning will appear on the cap of new bottles of Extra Strength Tylenol sold in the U.S. starting in October and on most other Tylenol bottles in coming months. The warning will make it clear that the over-the-counter drug contains acetaminophen, a pain-relieving ingredient that is the nation’s leading cause of sudden liver failure...

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http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/12/15/little-too-much-tylenol-can-be-deadly.aspx

 

But because Tylenol and related products are familiar household items, many people are completely unaware that these drugs can be toxic to your liver, even at recommended doses such as eight extra-strength Tylenol tablets daily for a couple of weeks.

 

Medications You Might Not Expect Contain Acetaminophen

 

Adding to the problem is the fact that acetaminophen is not only in products labeled as "Tylenol." It's also widely used in cold and flu and other over-the-counter medications.

 

This was precisely the reason why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked manufacturers of prescription acetaminophen combination products in early 2011 to limit the maximum amount of acetaminophen in these products to 325 mg per dose, as well as required manufacturers to update labels of all such products to warn of the potential risk for severe liver injury.

There are over-the-counter Tylenol products, however, that currently contain well over 325 milligrams of acetaminophen. These will not be included in this new limit, even though they're easier to obtain, and so you will have to watch out for this risk yourself.

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The warning will make it clear that the over-the-counter drug contains acetaminophen, a pain-relieving ingredient that is the nation’s leading cause of sudden liver failure...

 

Cav, I am not disputing your facts but I do find it a little surprising that over the counter drugs cause more liver problems than Alcohol or Hepatitis

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It is DIFFICULT to drink enough alcohol, for a long enough period, to damage the liver. You have to be one determined drunk.

 

With all the things that contain acetaminophen, it isn't that hard to get a risky dose.

 

Specialist,

 

Same as Cav I will not disagree with you after all I am a patient and not a physician.

 

From a personal perspective I do have a liver condition, not caused by Alcohol no Cirrhosis involved, but Hep B. No fat on my Liver I do have an annual ultrasound scan, but I always assumed that Hepatitis, Diabetes and Alcohol / Drug dependencies were the main causes of Liver Failure.

 

I admit that under medical advice I have been told not to take any drug containing acetaminophen, but I did not realise that it was such a problem and I was being advised to avoid acetaminophen in order to not make my own condition worse. But one lives and learns and accepts feedback from people with a better insight into the issue than me, maybe because of my condition my thoughts are blinkered and can only see things from a personal perspective, which is understandable.

 

For me now the cure for a headache is to Put the Headphones on, listen to some music and block out the wife's nagging.

 

Thanks for your input, much appreciated.

 

Kong

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