Originally Posted by Vortac180

With 15 years in the emergency department, I've only seen one actual acetaminophen overdose death, although, I admit, a goodly number that could have died had we not intervened. In contrast, I've seen a few deaths from NSAIDS over the years, including ibuprophen, usually due to bleeding ulcers. NSAID overuse can lead to kidney failure, dialysis and other problems.

I see alcohol-related death at least a few times a year. ETOH is, by far, the worst legal drug we have in society (my opinion only, feel free to differ), due to its prevalence, ease of availability and potency, with side effects that can be lethal or incredibly harmful--including addiction, liver failures like cirrhosis, FLD or portal hypertension with GI bleeds, accidental or violent injury or death, over sedation with respiratory failure, cardiac dysrhythmia, withdrawal seizures and psychosis, encephalopathy and dementia, aspiration pneumonia and sepsis, divorce, homelessness and other social or financial problems.

Despite all that, I still feel that alcohol being legal, taxed and controlled is probably the best plan. We may need to do some adjusting of the laws from time to time to minimize the ills. I feel some the the producers of beverages should pony up and pay for some of the societal costs. Doctors and others who say one drink a day is OK are probably technically correct for some people, but it's difficult to control oneself, and many people take too much or too often. I usually recommend stopping drinking alcohol and finding healthier ways to enjoy yourself. Like bicycling!