Tylenol Can Kill You; New Warning Admits Popular Painkiller Causes Liver Damage, Death

The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) says that acetaminophen is highly toxic for your liver. It can lead to liver failure and transplant, or even prove to be fatal. According to a study (published – the Journal of the American Medical Association), healthy adults who had taken the maximum dosage of Tylenol for 14 days suffered liver damage.

But most of us are not aware that taking Tylenol even in smaller and recommended dosages can prove to be toxic to our liver. Besides, intake of high levels of acetaminophen could lead to liver transplant, liver failure and even death.

In fact, acetaminophen has so much toxicity that around 80,000 people enter the emergency room every year because of acetaminophen poisoning. And around 500 people die because of liver failure caused by this drug.

At present, the drug is one of the leading causes of sudden liver failure among Americans. The toxic metabolites in it have been found in studies to kill liver cells.

According to a current study (University of Edinburgh, Scotland – Dr. Kenneth Simpson – lead), the risk of dying from staggered overdose (small amount taken for an extended period of time – many days or weeks) is much higher compared to drying from a large and single over dosage of Tylenol.

In fact, this finding is going to surprise everyone considering that millions of people in the U.S. are taking Tylenol and acetaminophen-containing drugs regularly.

There are over 85 personal injury lawsuits in federal court filed against this company. This is another example of why this drug is not a safe painkiller as all of us have been thinking.

According to Matthew Perrone of the AP, warning is going to make it extremely clear that this over the counter drug has acetaminophen, which is a pain-relieving ingredient but is the top cause behind sudden liver failure in the country. It has a fresh cap that is designed in a way to draw all the attention of those who are less likely to check the warnings given in fine print on the label.

Initially, the new labels are going to have the words “Always Read The Label” and “Contains Acetaminophen.” The labels will be going on all bottles having Extra Strength Tylenol – containing over 50% more acetaminophen per dose compared to the regular strength Tylenol. All Tylenol bottles are expected to get these labels within a few months. Even regular strength options are expected to get the labels.

The FDA’s advisory panel has advised that cold and cough drugs containing the pain reliever acetaminophen should be banned entirely because of the severe risk of liver damage associated with them.

Besides, because of the same reasons and same levels of liver damage risks, this advisory panel also suggested removing Percocet and Vicodin (widely used painkillers containing acetaminophen) from the market.

Source: livingtraditionally.com