Acetaminophen top of the list when it comes to liver damage

Two new studies have confirmed (again) that acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, is the most dangerous drug out there.

And it doesn’t seem to matter if an ER doctor is giving it to you or you picked up a bottle at your local pharmacy – it can be just as lethal.

I’ve told you many stories over the years of people who accidentally crossed that fine line between a “safe” dose and one that can kill. And how acetaminophen is the leading cause of acute liver failure sending 78,000 people to the ER every year.

It should be quite obvious by now that there’s simply no safe way to take this drug.

‘Double dipping’

The first study is about drugs that are associated with liver damage. And according to the researchers, there are well over 1,000 of them.

But despite the fact that the liver, which helps remove toxins from our body, can be damaged by a lot of different medications, acetaminophen tops the list. And out of all those meds, this easy-to-find drug is responsible for close to 50 percent of all cases of acute liver failure in the U.S.

The second study is about the danger of getting a toxic dose of a painkiller while in the ER. And yes, you would think the hospital is the last place you’d be in danger of an overdose, but apparently that’s not the case.

And right up there with the risk of doctors administering too many opioids is — you guessed it – getting a dangerous amount of acetaminophen.

But if a place teeming with health professionals isn’t enough to keep us safe from this med, it makes you wonder why this risky drug is allowed to be included in so many different medications!

For example, say you’re taking Extra Strength Tylenol for a headache, but you also feel like you’re coming down with a bug and really need a good night’s sleep. So, you take a dose of NyQuil.

That combo adds up to 5,600 milligrams of acetaminophen, over the top of even the FDA’s lenient maximum daily limit. And that’s all it might take to land you in the hospital – or worse.

And yes, as far too many people have learned the hard way, it can be just that simple to end up on the liver transplant list.

One of the big problems is the vast number of both OTC and Rx drugs containing acetaminophen – well over 600! So if you’re not being very careful, it’s easy to do what some researchers call “double dipping.”

While the FDA, every so often, warns us about the danger, for the most part it just looks the other way. A perfect example is a decision by the agency– made at the urging of an expert panel — to figure out once and for all how it intends to regulate acetaminophen.

We all know the FDA doesn’t work very quickly, but seriously, that promise was made almost 40 years ago!

So unlike numerous other countries that limit how much acetaminophen you can buy – such as the UK, Switzerland and even New Zealand – here in the U.S., a boatload can be obtained at any convenience store.

It doesn’t make any sense.

Obviously, we can’t wait another 40 years, or even another day, for the FDA to do something.

Because these new studies should be a big reminder that when it comes to drugs and protecting ourselves and our family, there’s nothing that can substitute for taking matters into our own hands.

And where acetaminophen is concerned, that should mean not even touching it.

“Drug-induced liver injury: Advanced Critical Care, December, 2016, acc.aacnjournals.org