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This is simply stupid, for many reasons.
Tylenol, if taken as directed on the bottle, unless you have hepatitis or liver damage, is generally safe and easier on your stomach than alternatives like ibuprofen or naproxen.
If you follow the directions on the bottle, you will not exceed 4g/day, which is the max reccommended for an adult. If you take more, you're just not following the directions. Almost all over-the-counter meds can be toxic in overdose if one doesn't read the directions.
Re: Vicodin and Percocet - well, yes, they can be abused, but so can hydrocodone (the narcotic in vicodin, often found in cough syrups) and oxycodone (found alone in Roxicodone and in many other med preparations.) However, this article isn't about abuse or addiction, but about the toxic effects of the non-narcotic agent.
In fact, even if prescribed, Percocet, whether it's with 5, 7.5, or 10 mg of oxycodone and usually 325 mg of tylenol, is a schedule II controlled substance, meaning it must be written by an M.D. with a DEA and a CDS number, cannot be called in, cannot have refills, and is limited to 240 pills/month (8/day,) which is still way below the threshold of liver damage.
Of course, if alcohol is involved, or even some other meds, the danger-level of tylenol changes, but banning two perfectly good opioid drugs because of the non-opioid ingredient that ANYONE can buy over the counter? Very stupid.
And yes, this is coming from a guy who deals with tylenol overdoses all the time (intentional, usually,) as I'm the director of a psych ER.
More regulations to protect us from ourselves because some idiots cannot follow directions on prescribed or non-prescribed meds. Restricting meds that are already restricted in the name of protecting people from the thing for which they're not restricted is ludicrous.
H
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