Accidental
Overdosing from Common Pain Reliever
Acetaminophen is the most common pain reliever used in the U.S. It is found in
common pain relievers like Tylenol and many other over-the-counter (OTC)
products as well as in prescription medicines such as Vicodin. It is also the
most common cause of accidental poisoning leading to acute liver failure.
Records show that there has been a dramatic increase in acetaminophen poisoning
recently—in the past six years the number of cases reported has almost doubled.
Attempted suicide accounts for some of these overdoses, but at least half were
completely unintentional.
If the victim survives, he or she will often need a liver transplant. Those who
get medical attention within 12 hours of taking too much acetaminophen have the
best outcomes. Many people who consume excessive amounts of acetaminophen have
existing health problems, and they may not attribute their symptoms to
acetaminophen use. Some people have chronic pain and may be taking more than
one product that contains acetaminophen. Depression or alcohol and drug abuse
may add to the problem. It’s hard to say how much acetaminophen is too much,
because many of the people who accidentally overdosed had been taking only 4 to
7.5 mg/day. It appears that they were affected by the accumulation of the drug.
People may develop a tolerance to the pain relieving effects of their medicine
and then take more than what is recommended. For now, more study is needed to
determine safe amounts, according to researchers that looked into unintentional
overdosing. The authors of a study in Hepatology, the official journal
of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, say that lack of
awareness of the dangers of acetaminophen poisoning is a problem. They suggest
changes in packaging to help prevent future overdoses.
SOURCE: Hepatology, American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases
www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/112161379/HTMLSTART