Acetaminophen, sold under the brand name Tylenol, among others, may be among the most dangerous medicines on the market. I’m sure this comes as a surprise to most of you, as virtually every single household keeps a bottle on hand for the occasional ache and pain, and doesn’t think twice about taking it.
Not thinking, it turns out, could cost you dearly... Acetaminophen overdose is actually the leading cause for calls to Poison Control Centers across the US—more than 100,000 instances per year—and, each year, is responsible for:
- More than 56,000 emergency room visits
- 2,600 hospitalizations
- An estimated 458 deaths due to acute liver failure
In fact, according to data from the Acute Liver Failure Study Group registry, acetaminophen poisoning is responsible for nearly HALF of ALL acute liver failure cases in the US. As stated in a paper published in the journal Hepatology an entire decade ago:
“[Acetaminophen] is heavily marketed for its safety compared to nonsteroidal analgesics.
By enabling self-diagnosis and treatment of minor aches and pains, its benefits are said by the Food and Drug Administration to outweigh its risks. It still must be asked: Is this amount of injury and death really acceptable for an over-the-counter pain reliever?”
