The new acetaminophen warning on Tylenol bottle caps is so weak it’s a joke

Johnson & Johnson just issued the 98-pound weakling of warnings. And still the media can’t turn on their microphones fast enough to sing their praises.

Let’s be honest. It’s not even a warning. It simply says: “Contains acetaminophen. Always read the label,” on the cap.

Yes…it’s in red. But for Tylenol, that’s just branding.

Even so, the media and the medical world is swooning over that bland six-word message that will soon appear on all Tylenol bottle caps.

What they’ve been glossing over forever is that acetaminophen overdoses cause as many as 80,000 ER visits every year. And more than 500 people die every year from acetaminophen-related liver failure.

So yes — absolutely — drug makers need to step up and put warnings on the packaging of ALL products that contain acetaminophen.

But they need to be, you know, actual warnings.

According to the Associated Press, the Tylenol warning makes it “explicitly clear” that the drug contains acetaminophen… “the nation’s leading cause of sudden liver failure.”

Now THAT would be a warning! “Contains acetaminophen — the leading cause of sudden liver failure.”

Sources:
“J&J launches new cap to curb Tylenol overdoses” Matthew Perron, Associated press, 8/29/13, ap.org