I just saw the title "FDA may put restrictions on TYLENOL... " on Drudge report
This is the link from Drudge
This is truly great news.
I work as a psychiatrist. most of my patients are young females and many have had history of suicide attempts.
Not all of these attempts were meant to be life ending. There are many reasons people take overdoses of pills.
Unfortunately, because of Tylenol's marketing, most young women think the safest thing to overdose with is one of the deadliest - Tylenol.
Acetaminophen marketed mostly as Tylenol in overdose causes liver failure and as the article says is the number one cause of liver failure in the US. Depending on a person's past drinking pattern, alcohol can make that much worse.
Tylenol and alcohol should never be mixed and can cause serious damage even in regular doses.
I am so pleased that this is finally being addressed (or I hope it is.)
I know doctors who simply call acetaminophen "useless poison" which is exactly what it is.
The reason it is prescribed in hospitals (where people are not consuming alchohol) is ibuprphen can be dangerous for some with kidney disease and aspirin is a blood thinner - not always a desired effect, especially post-op. So, tylenol gets to say "more hospitals trust tylenol..."
The agency says its only goal is to reduce liver injury, "not to decrease appropriate acetaminophen use or to drive people to use NSAIDS instead.''
In 2001 a man who had worked for the Bush administration won $8.8 for developing liver failure after using tylenol as directed while drinking wine with dinner. J&J didn't even argue that tylenol was the causative agent.
After taking the recommended doses for several days, Benedi said, he slipped into a coma and was hospitalized. Doctors found that his liver had failed and he received a liver transplant Feb. 12, 1993.
During the trial, testimony showed that Benedi regularly drank wine with his dinner. Specialists testified that regular alcohol consumption can cause the liver to become overly sensitive and prone to damage from usually harmless doses of Tylenol.
Benedi's experts testified that McNeil had known for years that alcohol drinkers could suffer unusual liver damage from ordinary doses of Tylenol but had failed to warn the public.
I just hope I never have to see another 16 or 17 year old who overwhelmed and angry, takes a half a bottle of tylenol and end up headed to the ICU with liver enzymes over a thousand awaiting a transplant
UPDATE:
Some think I'm saying tylenol will be behind the counter or by prescription only.
There is no evidence of that. All I expect is a big warning on the label that says, "this medication may cause liver failure especially when taken with alcohol. Do not drink while taking this medication."