Tylenol can Kill | Thoughts on new FDA Warnings on Acetaminophen

Tylenol can Kill | Thoughts on new FDA Warnings on Acetaminophen.

COMMENT: A panel of Food and Drug Administration experts recommends that the acetaminophen levels in medicines like Tylenol be lowered, according to this NPR story. This blog post by a doctor is quite compelling – it certainly personalizes the issue.

FROM THE ARTICLE: My worst night as a doctor was during my residency.  I was working the pediatric ICU and admitted a young teenager who had tried to kill herself.  Well, she didn’t really try to kill herself; she took a handful of Tylenol (acetaminophen) because some other girls had teased her.

On that night I watched as she went from a frightened girl who carried on a conversation, through agitation and into coma, and finally to death by morning.  We did everything we could to keep her alive, but without a liver there is no chance of survival.

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