The number of unintentional, severe cases of liver failure related to acetaminophen poisoning is rising, despite a decade of warnings about the risks of taking more than the recommended dose.
"Acetaminophen poisoning has become the most common cause of acute liver failure in the United States," reports a recent study in Hepatology, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
The results of the study have been summarized in a New York Times report and in online news columns.
Acetaminophen is the most commonly used pain-reliever in the US, with 36% of Americans ingesting it at least once each month, according to one . However, taking more than the recommended dose of acetaminophen can lead to fatal liver injury.
Last week, a federal advisory panel recommended banning the popular prescription pain drugs Vicodin and Percocet. The reason: the pills contain the over-the-counter pain reliever acetaminophen, which has been linked to liver damage.
For regular users of acetaminophen, the ingredient in Tylenol and many cold medications, the news was troubling. Should we all toss acetaminophen from our medicine cabinets?
The answer is no. When used as directed, the drug is harmless. But acetaminophen is now in so many products that it is relatively easy to take more than the recommended daily limit, now four grams. In a study, about 50% of liver failure cases related to acetaminophen poisoning were unintentional, while the other half resulted from attempted suicide.
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