Help Patients Use Acetaminophen Safely

Acetaminophen toxicity is a leading cause of acute liver failure, resulting in an estimated 400 deaths in this country each year. Many of these events are happening because patients are unknowingly taking too much of the drug. Several factors contribute to these unintentional acetaminophen overdoses. First, people may not be aware that they are in danger of liver damage if they exceed the maximum recommended dose, or that alcohol exacerbates the risk. Also, they may not realize how much acetaminophen they are consuming if they take more than one product containing this drug. Taking too much can be easy to do, because acetaminophen is widely found in both OTC and prescription drug products, in as many as 600 of them, including analgesics, antipyretics, cough/cold remedies and sleep aids. In this situation, people may not even recognize that some of the drugs they are taking contain acetaminophen. One study, published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association in 2007, surveyed 104 adult patients presenting to an internal medicine clinic. 79% reported using a product that contained acetaminophen within the previous six months, but only 43% could identify problems that could arise from high doses of acetaminophen. And while 71% of patients recognized that Tylenol contains acetaminophen, fewer than 15% knew that Vicodin (hydrocodone/ acetaminophen), Darvocet (propoxyphene napsylate/) and Percocet (oxycodone/acetaminophen) contain acetaminophen. Children are also …