I almost agree with you we are. It always stuck with me when one day I was in my EMS class and my instructor asked what we thought the most dangerous drug was in our medicine cabinet. Turned out to be Tylenol.

This is not anything new--over 30 years ago it was known that the active ingredient, acetaminophen, caused liver damage. It has been recommended for use as an anti-inflammatory medication, which it is not, and it is not effective for that use. It was also touted as safer than aspirin.

Utter, I use Tylenol. I am going to have to rethink this whole thing now. I have friends who won't take it at all. It's nice to have a liver.

4 grams of apap is NOT FDA standard max dose in a 24 hr period. It has been redused to 3.25 GM (3,250 mg) per 24 hr period. You might want to check your facts before you put info out into space for all to see.

-A. Perez, CPhT Nashville, TN

4 grams of Tylenol is a lot in 24 hours. For example, antibiotics are usually 1 or 2 grams....Tylenol does kidney damage....parents should be careful how much they give their kids.....totally overdone.

May be a very good idea. Stop buying it.

Actually alumette, Tylenol does liver damage. Advil (Ibuprofin) does kidney damage.

This was told about in 1976, and at that point my family was NEVER given this again! We lived in St. Louis, Mo. and they have a newspaper that gets news from all over the world. When I read it, I wondered why it was being allowed to still be on the market in the USA. They even reported that just taking one a day, could destroy your kidneys. Have talked to many people on dialysis who took it regularly, before they had to get on the machines! Hope everyone finds out about this! The FDA needs to be straightened out!!

This is OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!! OUTFREAKINRAGEOUS!!!!!!!!!

How can our country allow such a dangerous drug to be legal AND sold over the counter????

After all, we have kept a harmless plant like marijuana illegal for 75 years now. How does this make any sense that Tylenol is legally obtained??

Well now the sceptics can try to understand why the average person with little recourse considers alternative medicines.

As far as pain goes, I myself have had success with acupuncture.

Yeah lets ban it because people can't be responsible and take within the recommended doses. Get real. Do we really need the government to babysit us with tylenol too?

The problem is that Tylenol is part of so many different OTC drugs as well as prescription pain killers. Many people are taking more than one medication at a time and fail to account for the Tylenol that is part of other medication when looking at how much they are taking, they only look at the number of actual Tylenol pills they are taking. You need to be conscious of the content of every medication you put in your body to avoid accidental overdoses.

Yep, I nearly OD'ed on Tylenol a few years ago. I had a horrible headache and body aches from pneumonia (thought it was bronchitis). I took 3 500mg Tylenol every 6 hours for five days and then finally dragged myself to the doctor. The blood panel showed toxic levels of Tylenol. Fortunately, my liver was very forgiving. It's much too easy to overdose on this stuff.

Mark-768209,

My mother was at the doctor's office one day, complaining about one of her many medications that was making her sick. He told her what the real secret to pharmacology was.

"We give you small amounts of poison, and hope that it does more good than harm."

And then he switched her to a different medicine.

The point is, ALL drugs are poison, and taking too much of them WILL kill you.

Um, okay, and pregnant women are told to take ONLY this stuff...why???? I am poisoning my babies every time I get a headache! I am tossing this stuff out of my house. I would much rather suffer with an ice pack on my head than destroy mine and my children's internal organs.

I'm in pain management, and it's taken some time to finally convince my doc to give me more of the pain med and less tylenol in it; he said they work in tandem. I asked, 'what about people that take 15 mg oxycodone, or smaller oxycontins? No tylenol in there whatsoever'. Kind of got looked at as if I was trying to get harder meds, but really I just don't want the acetomenaphin whatsoever. They've invented pill cutters some time ago; one can always adjust drug dosage.

Sundiver - good post - except that cannabis is not a poison. It should be legal and sold over the counter to anyone aged 18 or older.

Moderation, I'm running into the same problem with my pain management doctor. I'm allergic to NSAIDs (I have ulcerative colitis, and they can make my colon bleed to the point where it almost perforated once), and my Lortab, which I take four times per day, contains 500mg of Tylenol per pill. However, I also take Fioricet for migraines on more days than not, which contains 325mg of Tylenol per pill. My insurance will only pay for 12 pills of Imitrex (which does not contain any Tylenol) per month, and even the generic costs several hundred dollars. I've tried other migraine medications, such as Depakote, Topamax, Midrin, and Toprol XL, not to mention numerous herbal remedies, but none of them have worked. Opioids do nothing for my migraines, either, so it's not like I can just take a Lortab for them.

I have expressed to both my pain physician and my neurologist about the amount of Tylenol I'm consuming, but neither of them seem concerned. I get regular liver function tests, which have all thankfully been normal, but still. It worries me.

And Moderation, just as an FYI, it's crucial that you NEVER split OxyContin pills or any other medications that are extended-release. That will cause all the medication to release at once and can result in a fatal overdose. Always ask your physician and your pharmacist if it's safe to use a pill-splitter on a medication.

The problem with banning it is for people like me who are allergic to aspirin and have been told you can't take Advil, Aleve and other pain relievers of that nature will have nothing to take for headaches and other aches and pains. I am not going to pay to see a doctor every time I have a headache. I personally do not like taking the stuff, but it sure is handy when it is really needed.

My mom fell and broke her femor a few years ago...she took Tylenol as prescribed for a period of 2 wks...she ended up with auto-immune hepititis as a result of the "extended" use of this OTC med. I try and let everyone know to just avoid taking acetominophen. My mom? she's 91 now and after a few rough years of taking an anti-rejection drug, her liver is completely healed. She's an amazingly strong woman.

@Enough - Advil does cause kidney damage as does Tylenol and shouldn't be overtaken but I won't take Tylenol because it does nothing for my pain and Advil does. Tylenol 3 or Tylenol 4 helps but those have codeine in it. Tylenol alone doesn't do much. Ibuprofen is just a better pain reliever IMO. Aleve as well. Don't know what that hurts. I'm sure it affects something too though.

Obviously people will not always follow directions. Acetominophen is a bad drug and should be taken off the shelves.

Because the package contents are WRONG. Ask your Doctor, a real doctor what the maximum daily dose should be. I was a bit shocked after arguing about what the bottle says.

@TJHARRIS,

I would venture that have been DRUNK on more than one occasion??? Correct??? Did you drink according to directions Moron???

I don't see how the manufacturer can be blamed when a consumer doesn't read and follow dosing information. If you don't stop, and walk in front of a car at a traffic light, do you blame the manufacturer of the car? If you are too stupid to obey traffic laws and get hurt, shame on you.

The bottle clearly says you can take one or two of the pills every 4-6 hours and that 'severe liver damage can occur' if you take more than 8 pills a day. Taking 2 pills every 4 hours is 12 pills a day. What? People can't count?

mindless drones....that's the problem with our country today.....they are so conditioned to just accept what any corporation says.

With the FDA barely enforcing the rules it has now on the books, you can't be careful enough when dealing with any drug from any drug company. There was a time when BEFORE approving, they made sure the drug would be safe. Today? They decide if it's safe or not based on if people start dropping dead

I have been drunk several times in my foolish youth...at my age (53)I choose not to be hungover. However if someone drinks, gets drunk and dies (or kills someone) that is their personal responsibility. If someone takes too much Tylenol (or any other OTC or prescription drug) that is their stupid choice, whether they read the package or not. The government cannot and should not have to protect everyone from their own personal bad choices. To take an effective (when used correctly) off the market because of the stupidity of others is pushing us more towards a "nanny state".

people expect to be told or at least informed on the correct dose and the " dangerous dose" of these over the counter medicine. Most people are clueless and do not go on line and check the guidelines. It is sad that kids may end up screwed because the parents gave them too much Tylenol. Who wants to go on dialysis because of that "mistake" ? Moral of the story : be careful about any drug you decide to swallow. Study it. It is your body and your decision. How much physical discomfort are you in that you need Tylenol ? I think that stuff is totally useless. It does little to help anybody.......Ditch it...in the special recycling medicine container.

It isn't a matter of blaming the pharma company for acetaminophen overdoses. It is a matter of blaming them for marketing a drug that is rather ineffective and dangerous when there are safer alternatives. Tylenol is metabolized into a re-uptake inhibitor for the cannabinoid system. If you ever wondered why they give people SSRI's instead of serotonin, it's because serotonin cannot pass the blood-brain barrier. This is not true of cannabinoids and they are not toxic to the liver, but pharma has no interest in replacing tylenol with more effective cannabinoids that can be selected for more specific action. If you can achieve better, safer results from synthesized or plant based cannabinoids that can be tailored to treat more specific symptoms, why do you continue to push a panacea?

As far as alcohol goes, it does reduce the safe dosage amount, making damage more likely.

And I do not understand the chemistry, but cabbinoids are same because they can link with natural cabbinoid's found in the body.

In #2.11 replace same with safe.

Some of you argue about banning it, so should we get rid of every other drug that's dangerous when misused? At what point does someone say enough? How about blood pressure medication, it can kill when used incorrectly.

This drug has been around forever and 99% of deaths or problems are either a result of alcohol use with acetaminophen, intentional overdose or unintentional overdose through using multiple products without reading the ingredients.

The drug itself is perfectly fine, It was approved over 60 years ago and now everyone wants to get all uptight about it?

wait, wait... you hear that?

that's the sound of personal accountability fizzling away.

dblhelix what about accountability for things you say? You know like mocking a parent of an autistic child? Take some personal accounatability. Do you still stand by Casavella's statement? Do you?

i mocked him for his ideas about vaccination, whether he had a disabled child or not had nothing to do with it.

do us a favor? don't stalk my comment history and try to throw jabs on an unrelated article.

Why don't you leave others alone and not mock them for their views? Why do you stand up for those who insult disabled kids?

"i mocked him for his ideas about vaccination, whether he had a disabled child or not had nothing to do with it."

So it's ok to mock people for their views on vaccinations. I guess it's ok to give props to someone that calls parents unfit because they have to care for a disabled child. Really dbhelix?

"wait, wait... you hear that?

that's the sound of personal accountability fizzling away."

Yes, it's nice to not be accountable for what you say, huh dbhelix.

Why can’t we use something like naproxen sodium or mortem? They work. Why aren't those two used in some of those over the center medications? EVERY SINGLE ONE of the OTC cold and flu preparations use Tylenol. Who here has not sucked down a bottle of Nyquil in order to get rid of the stuffed up not able to breathe congestion? I know I have. I hate not being able to breathe, feels like someone is trying to suffocate me. Every one of them has the poison Tylenol in it. What if you are one of the ONE in FIVE Americans who has Hep-C and does not know it? Then how many holes are you punching in your liver?

JSYK, folks pain killer addiction is a choice, the side effects of using narcotic painkillers are not very pleasant if you have no pain, who would choose to use them without pain? They say if you have pain, you do not get any 'high' from the narcotics. I have only ever used them when in pain, so I have never experienced any 'fun' from them, only nausea and other unpleasant side effects. If you do need them as I have for bad bone pain like knee surgery, a knee replacement, and a shattered and dislocated ankle that had to be surgically rebuilt, you need them. They all were very painful and the only choice was narcotic painkillers. I did find out that you just cannot stop cold turkey when you get better and no longer need them, it takes a couple days to taper off taking only minute amounts of them because as your pain has lessened over the recovery course anyway you have been taking less and less anyway (or you should have been). I only had to do the taper off once that was for the knee replacement and I was taking them for a long time, maybe 8 weeks or more. I do know I always have them left over from any surgery that I have ever had so they cannot be that addicting. The 'addiction' or bad feeling that resulted when I suddenly stopped after the knee replacement was like horrible restless leg syndrome. This went away after tapering off for about 2.5 days with very small amounts like quarter pills (or less) twice a day. That was it.

Anyone that tells you otherwise is choosing to be addicted to painkillers. But the worse thing about them is that all of those are mixed with Tylenol as well, again doing damage to people livers and giving those who may already have liver damage NO reasonable or safer alternative when narcotics are necessary. Tylenol has to stop being the go to mixed drug with these other pain remedies if it is this harmful for us and we know it is.

Some one here mentioned Migraine and limitations on Rx's that they can get. You are not supposed to use either motrin or tylenol if you have migraines they put you in a rebound cycle. All migraine reasearch today is using Naprox it is also being mixed with imitrex. That is what I take for headaches when they are not migranies and it works much, much better. Don't bother with the other stuff.

Seriously? Tylenol is a pain killer - and I for one would not want to go back to the days when we didn't have such effective ones. The problem isn't Tylenol - the problem is irresponsible idiots who can't read a label and follow the directions. Are you one of them?

Remember, pain is weakness leaving the body.

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.

grilledcheese -- can you read??
--again--
"...the Food and Drug Administration [requested doses be lowered] in a single tablet to 325 mg. Even at this dose, patients who took two tablets every four hours for 24 hours would be at risk for a staggered overdose..."

Quit defending the Big Pharma Mafia.

Indifference is the cause of poor health, not pharma. Pills for every bad choice is an effect of laziness, though I wouldn't put pain remedies in that boat.

People just don't care about indifference.

Muhamed -- Maybe it's you that is having trouble reading! The article says "Even at this dose, people who take two tablets every four hours for 24 hours come close to the 4,000 mg limit." The people who suffered from staggered overdose appear to have taken well over the 4,000 mg limit over the course of several days. Maybe you should stop defending people who can't follow directions. Most likely they don't even read the directions. If you feel that the Pharmaceutical companies are equivalent to the Mafia, don't use their products.

no...you can take plain old aspirin or BC powder, have some vit. C drinks, and get some rest. No Tylenol needed.

Paracetamol is not an NSAID.

Nutgrape you are right--paracetamol is another name for acetaminophen--the active ingredient in Tylenol. It is not an anti-inflammatory drug, although I believe that it has been marketed as such!

aspirin isn't good for you either. it can cause damage and bleeding of the lining of the digestive tract. NSAIDS are very harmful to the liver as well as the digestive tract. people just assume that because you can buy something in the store, that it is automatically safe. it isn't you have to follow directions; most people are too lazy to do this. aspirin and tylenol are analgesics (pain relievers)

too much of any drug is bad. Aspirin is good if not overdone...you can get a brain bleed....that sucks. If you think you are getting a stroke, take an aspirin and it will take care of the problem...in many cases...I love my BC as I take it every time I have a headache and that is all I take. Period. Nothing else. I am healthy as a horse and I am old ......staying away from the protocol medical conveyor belt has helped me a lot. I make my own decisions and it is so ....rewarding ! You are in control.... people...and don't forget it.

BC is aspirin! And I now have a family member about to die because of it. They had migraines for years and guess what they took every day? BC.

Good grief, alumette, stop giving advice you're not qualified to give. Don't just take an aspirin if you think you're having a stroke and believe that's all you need, folks. If you're having stroke symptoms, you need professional medical attention.

I guess that applies to any drug that can be abused. The solution is to make changes, not to ban.

It's impossible to overdose on marijuana. So yes, make changes.

hmmm....too radical ? let people make their own decisions. We have enough rules and bans.....we can read...we need proper information...that's all.

The point was that some of the information is not credible. We're getting enough of it.

Sign SonofMollyM up for 4gm THC daily; we'll see how it goes.

It is not more deadly than heroin if you follow the directions on the package...

H does not usually come with directions...

More deadly than heroin? You obviously don't have much experience with heroin addicts/overdoses. (My own experience is limited to documentaries, so don't mistake me for an expert or anything, but...)

Heroin is more dangerous for a number of reasons, the most chiefly compelling:

* intravenous dosing which poses the risk of blood born illness from dirty needles plus a higher risk for immediate overdose
* incredibly high rate of addiction, creating more habitual misuse/abuse
* more profound negative effects on the body's systems which are cumulative

I mean, can you honestly sit there and say that Tylenol, a product utilized by millions of Americans safely and effectively every day, is as deadly as Heroin which can create an overdose scenario on a single "standard" use? Please...

Heroin, Tylenol, and Aspirin, are all more deadly than marijuana, yet marijuana is classified as worse than any of them.

I think every one knows that. No aspirin for kids.

Yes, acetaminophen is more deadly than heroin in the sense that it kills far more people than heroin every year. Deadliness and potential deadliness are not the same thing. One of the supposed reasons for putting so much of it in vicodin and other pain killers is to deter people from getting high. If they take enough to get high, they risk the uncomfortable feeling and liver damage that come with tylenol. Who knows if this is the intention, but it certainly is the result. That seems a rather cruel way to deter drug abuse.

If 'everyone knows that' then why is there children's aspirin.

You will not see it labeled as "baby aspirin" any longer, in fact for several years. The problem with aspirin in children is the risk of Reyes Syndrome in children 16 and under......it can cause death. The 81 mg aspirin is now marketed for adults who need it for heart health, stroke prevention, and colon cancer prevention, all diseases that research has found aspirin to be beneficial. More than 81 mg. is not needed in those instances.

blahblah-- I take your point-- but that would equate several other disturbing parallels: Tylenol is more deadly than Arsenic. Tylenol is more deadly than nuclear weapons. Tylenol is more deadly than shark bites. You see my point, I trust?

"Take too little, it won't help. Take too much, you will get sick(er)."

AGreed. Oh but how 'bout if you're actually allergic to salicylic acid? That's aspirin, btw. I am. So guess what I take? Tylanol. With the pain I suffer with from chronic issues it's either that or OD on muscle relaxers and opiods. Which is worse????? Is there a good choice here? No, not really. I'm also allergic to opiods!! I'm screwed.

@Angelpointe: Marijuana? (You don't have to smoke it. You might consider it, if it's a medically legal in your state).

yeah but guess what ? pharma makes lots of money on their drugs and they have a huge lobby ...get it ? Pot is just another mix of issues as to whom benefits the most....and it is not the user but bigger fish. It is political.

Some people can't take aspirin it thins their blood.

and, if you need to take a low dose aspirin for blood thinning purposes, as most heart patients do, Acetominophen is the only pain killer you can use for headache, pain, etc. Ibuprophin counteracts the benefits of low dose aspirin therapy, as I understand it.

Acetominophen has it's place, but as mentioned earlier, you need to read and follow labeling/dosing instructions. not doing so is just plain dumb.

Don't forget prolonged use of aspirin and other NSAID pain killers cause stomach ulcers. If we eliminate all drugs with potential side effects from a single use, prolonged use, and slight overdoses we'd eliminate nearly 100% of all drugs.

You've got right Eric.

EVERY drug has side effects and can be abused. It is up to the user to use common sense.

An interjection is needed. The English language is not perfect. Some words are not clearly defined; or only defined by context. The word love is a common example.

And in modern America, the terms 'drug' and 'poison' really are in need of more definite definition. Which is why it can be stated that acetaminophen is a poison; and marijuana is not.

they're not hidden ingredients. if you take the time to look at the back of the bottle while you're in the rite aid, the active compounds are right there staring you in the face.

if someone isn't bright enough to read what's right there on the label, that says more about them than it does the safety of what's in the bottle.

and guess what. right there on every bottle of acetominophen there's a block of text that says "prolonged use may lead to liver damage". translation - "pop these pills like they're candy for days at a time and you'll probably get liver damage", or in other cases "hey drunky don't take me for your hangover since your liver is already working off your bad decisions!".

what the label should say is "for every pill you take, the cytochrome p450 mixed mode oxidases in your hepatocytes will produce 5% of NAPQI that can lead to complications after prolonged doses due to intracellular accumulation overwhelming the glutathione antioxidant system. following the depletion, reactive oxygen species will move on to trash your liver". that probably wouldn't be on put on though, given this country's love for science education and reading comprehension. even though it's all right there in plain ol' english.

don't blame the pills. they're not jumping down your throat. if people aren't bright enough to read the labels and factor in the pertinent details, it's not the drug's fault.

it is a political lobby. All about money, who you know and what people you control. So many people (parents) give it to their kids practically every night. It becomes a habit.....very sad indeed. Not needed, but a "convenient way" to let the kids prepare for bed...how about that idiocy ? Mom.... I need some Tylenol...liquid.....happy juice.....The ultimate control of overpopulation....if only they would be some sterilization drug in it. It would take care of the over population. I am cynical now.

"I'd never think of poping them, 5 in a day wow, that's Darwin Awards recipient level doing that stuff."

So if you're allergic to salicylic acid(ASPIRIN!) and most other pain killers.... what? What're your options, sweaver? I'd be in a coma from the pain I deal with on a daily basis at times from a chronic ailment. I'm allergic to aspirin and opiods. There isn't much else out there right now.

Legalize pot!!

I had dental pain so severe once that I almost took a bullet for it.

MikeM is correct!

We must protect personal responsibilities by banning (or at least closing) all windows!

No one in history has ever overdosed on pot.

Prove it.

purely anecdotal.. maybe she just has a cast iron constitution, is she of "german engineering",and how do you know? Or are you trying to tell us your liver and brain are in horrible shape?

Your anecdote, unfortunately, does not provide much evidence. They are not saying that EVERYONE who takes large doses will get liver problems from it. Not everyone who smokes a pack a day will die from lung cancer; not everyone who drives 120 mph on a busy freeway with a car that has bad tires will die in an auto crash. This is about the RISK and INCIDENCE of liver failure. If normal risk of something is 1%, then a doubling of that risk is 2%. Depending upon the consequences, you'll have to do your own cost-benefit analysis.

3000 mg daily is under the recommended dose, so she should be OK. Plus if her doctor is doing regular blood chemistries, he would know if her liver enzymes were out of whack.

Excellent point. Also note the comment about "drinking". It is known the patient histories given regarding alcohol use/amount are always suspect (understated) and are almost impossible to verify "over several (however many) days". For all the researchers know, this could be a critical factor given the literally billions of tablets of this drug used annually. While the recommended doses of any drug should never be exceeded, certainly this news summary should only lead one to read the actual study article carefully.

Obvios troll is obvious.

I wonder what you would say if Chris Rock would say the pill was not white in color?

do you follow?

BTW "Speedy Palm" sounds a little gross.

Stoners never quit spreading their message.