Acetaminophen can be a dangerous drug despite its reputation for safety and its ready accessibility. For years, commercials for the popular pain reliever used to proclaim: “Trust Tylenol. The pain reliever hospitals use most.” A new study from Scotland suggests that patients may sometimes unwittingly take too much acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. Because acetaminophen is found in so many different products, from cold and flu remedies to allergy medicines, nighttime pain relievers and headache pills, people may not realize quite how much they are getting. Repeatedly taking a bit too much of this pain reliever can result over time in liver or kidney injury.
Emergency room doctors have long known that a single large overdose of acetaminophen can be deadly. The Scottish investigators found that small overdoses over weeks or months could be just as dangerous. People who had regularly exceeded the standard dose to treat headache, toothache, or muscle sprains and strains were at high risk for liver damage, kidney dialysis, brain problems and breathing difficulty. This comes on the heels of studies showing that acetaminophen use is linked to hearing loss (American Journal of Medicine, March 2010), asthma (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Jan. 15, 2011) and blood cancers (Journal of Clinical Oncology, June 10, 2011). These new findings may force physicians, pharmacists and patients to re-evaluate acetaminophen safety.
[British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, online Nov. 23, 2011]
