Acetaminophen, known to most of us as Tylenol, is one of the most commonly used drugs for pain. The vast majority of our injured clients take this drug at one stage or another of their treatment and recovery. A recently published investigative report from ProPublica explores just how dangerous this drug is. Everyone who uses this drug would benefit from reading this report.
Tylenol is an extremely common drug, but it can be more dangerous than you think, so please both read carefully and follow the directions on the bottle, especially if you’re giving it to a baby or child or if you’re an adult who drinks alcohol, even occasionally.
The article is lengthy and disturbing because it talks about the makers of Tylenol minimizing the deaths and liver damage of people who took the product. However, ProPublica has done a comprehensive job of including a lot of information and several graphics caught my eye, including “How the Liver Processes Acetaminophen” and “How Much Acetaminophen Are You Taking?”
The report’s “Major Takeaways” are below, and I hope they make you want to read more of the report. I would urge you to be sure with any drug, even over-the-counter ones, to always read the label, follow the directions, and ask a doctor or pharmacist if you have questions.
Major Takeaways (excerpt from the report)
1 About 150 Americans die a year by accidentally taking too much acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, federal data from the CDC shows.
2 Acetaminophen has a narrow safety margin: the dose that helps is close to the dose that can cause serious harm, according to the FDA.
3 The FDA has long been aware of studies showing the risks of acetaminophen. So has the maker of Tylenol, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a division of Johnson & Johnson.
4 Over more than 30 years, the FDA has delayed or failed to adopt measures designed to reduce deaths and injuries from acetaminophen. The agency began a comprehensive review to set safety rules for acetaminophen in the 1970s, but still has not finished.
5 McNeil, the maker of Tylenol, has taken steps to protect consumers. But over more than three decades, the company has repeatedly opposed safety warnings, dosage restrictions and other measures meant to safeguard users of the drug.