Acetaminophen: Whatever Happened to Personal Responsibility?

July 1st, 2009. By AbiK

I’m feeling a bit like news anchor Howard Beale in the movie Network—when he’s mad as you-know-what and not going to take it anymore. Yesterday’s report on the FDA panel that voted to eliminate Vicodin and Percocet is one thing—they’re controlled substances and many times when you’re given or prescribed them you’re in no condition to care about potential risks. You just want a glass of water and pill-in-hand, thank you. So I’ve got no issue with big brother keeping a watchful eye here if risks are outweighing benefits.

But, when the FDA panel starts going off on OTC acetaminophen to the extent where it is recommending dosage limits (i.e., reducing the amount of active ingredient per pill) and suggesting that the current OTC dose—1,000 mg (2 pills at 500 mg each)—be available only by prescription, it’s time to raise an eyebrow.

Here’s the thing. As msnbc.com reported the FDA panel vote yesterday it said, “The FDA convened the two-day meeting to ask experts to discuss and vote on a slew of proposals to reduce overdoses with acetaminophen.” 

Keyword: OVERDOSES.

Who administers most doses of OTC acetaminophen—like Tylenol? I’m guessing it’s the person who bought it, or the person who grabs it from the medicine cabinet at home. You can see where I’m going with this. Keep in mind that where overdose is concerned, one of the key risks is that someone may take another medication containing acetaminophen at the same time, thereby unwittingly upping their acetaminophen dosage level, which can lead to liver damage. Fair point, but let’s have a reality check when it comes to pointing to the acetaminophen manuafacturers as the responisible parties on this—let’s take a look at the bottle of Extra Strength Tylenol in my hand right now.

Number of times word “overdose” is mentioned: 5

Number of times warning about taking other acetaminophen products is mentioned: 2 (and one just happens to be in glaring yellow type right above the Tylenol name)

Number of times risk of liver damage is mentioned: 3

Number of times READ THE LABEL is mentioned: 1 (with little arrows pointing to itself)

To this, add the following excerpt from the fda.gov site:

Acetaminophen is generally safe when taken as directed. To lower your risk of liver damage make sure you do the following:

• Follow dosing directions and never take more than directed; even a small amount more than directed can cause liver damage.
• Don’t take acetaminophen for more days than directed.
• Don’t take more than one medicine that contains acetaminophen at a time. For example, your risk of liver damage goes up if you take a medicine that contains acetaminophen to treat a headache, and while that medicine is still working in your body, you take another medicine that contains acetaminophen to treat a cold.

Q: How can I tell which medicines contain acetaminophen?

A: Medicines have ingredients listed on their labels. On OTC medicines, check the “Drug Facts” label under the section called Active Ingredients. If your medicine contains acetaminophen, it will be listed in this section. On prescription medicine containers, the label will say “acetaminophen” or “APAP.”

So let’s see. If I’m about to take OTC acetaminophen, I should read the label, follow the instructions on the label, and to be extra sure I should read the labels of anything else I’m taking. Ok. I think I get it. Do you?

Tags: Acetaminophen, liver damage, percocet, tylenol, Vicodin

This was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 11:21 am and is filed under Emerging Issues . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.