New leading cause of liver failure.

[Elysian893]

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18825295.000

A POPULAR over-the-counter painkiller is now the leading cause of acute liver failure in the US - and almost half of those cases are accidental overdoses.

Paracetamol (or acetaminophen as it is known in the US) is used by millions of Americans each year, and is commonly thought to be safe. Until 1980, paracetamol was not even listed as a cause of acute liver failure. But between 1998 and 2003, the proportion of cases of liver failure caused by the drug nearly doubled.

William Lee at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and his colleagues followed patients with acute liver failure who were in a coma. Of the 275 people with paracetamol poisoning, 8 per cent received a liver transplant, 65 per cent survived without one and 27 per cent died.

Initially the researchers had suspected a direct relationship between how much of the drug is in the liver and for how long, and the extent of the damage. But people who intentionally overdosed, who tend to be identified and treated more quickly, had similar damage to those who overdosed accidentally. That suggests a clear threshold for what constitutes a safe dose of the drug.

Many of the people who had accidentally poisoned themselves did so by taking just 10 grams of the medication each day for about three days - the equivalent of about 20 pills per day instead of the recommended eight, an overdose that might be less serious with other drugs. Other people had unwittingly taken two products that both contained the drug (Hepatology, vol 42, p 1364).

Lee thinks American drug enforcers should follow the lead of the UK, which requires products that contain acetaminophen to be packaged in blister packets and sold in small quantities. "I think we should talk about limiting package size," says Lee. "You can buy 500 at a time. They're like M&Ms."

 

[Nick Brookes]

OWNED, man that company is going to get fuck by law suits

 

[Elysian893]

i think its more that people are using it in excess...

 

[Leandro]

Interesting
I'll remember that when I suicide

 

[Lanterns]

Yea, I've heard about that before so I now try to avoid paracetamol...I PREFER TO MESS UP MY LIVER WITH OTHER THINGS!

 

[Turbo]

i dont use any pain killers. Apart from booze.

 

[Noble Viking]

10 grams of Acetometaphin (SP?) in a person's system is ridiculous. Think of Vicodin. For example, every 750 mg vicodin has 500mg acetometaphin (don't completely trust me, it's SOMETHING like this, but the amount of Vicodin> Aceto that I stated is possibly not an accurate amount). So imagine at 500mg of Aceto per 1 vic, (1000 mg = 1g) you'd have to take 20 750mg Vicodin each day. These people did this on average for three days straight! That's for example if they were taking vicodin with acetometaphin, 60 750 mg vicodins within three days!

 

[derek]

I get new scientist on subscription and the fucks havent even sent me that copy yet. I'm phoning up and saying a bunch of tools on a HEAVY metal forum showed me the article before i even recieved my copy...that'll put the thumb thoroughly up their asses...

 

[EagleFlyFree]

a HEAVY metal forum

they probably have their heads so far up their asses that they'd send an anti-radiation team to your place

 

[The Bringer]

For some reason it doesn't suprise me. A lot of drugs are coming out these days without full testings.

 

[Heavenscent]

Now that's what I call a PAINKILLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! *insane sweeps, heavy riff*

 

[Daewa]

The fact that Paracetamol damages the liver is not new to me.
But who the hell takes 10g of Paracetamol per day?
Ok, in Germany the rules for the sale of pharmaceuticals are very strikt.
A lot of drugs you can buy in Spain/UK without prescription you need a prescription for in Germany
The package size of Paracetamol and a lot other painkillers is limited to 30 pills per package and only one package per customer.
Contrary to a lot other Countries you can't buy painkillers in the supermarket.

 

[Nick Brookes]

you can get 10 painkillers for a £ in boots nowdays and you can buy 3 packs

that will see you off

 

[Daewa]

you can get 10 painkillers for a £ in boots nowdays and you can buy 3 packs

that will see you off

I know that the amount of selling paracetamol is limitied, I saw the signs on the shelf in the supermarket. But it is still strange to me that you can buy painkillers at the cinema or at the petrol station

 

[shapeup]

acetaminophen is in Coricidin (DXM) which people use to get fucked uip by taking like 10 of them so thats probley why so many people are getting kidney failure