Originally Posted by
Shimagnolo
Paracetamol toxicity is the foremost cause of acute liver failure in the Western world and accounts for most drug overdoses in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.[53][54][55][56] According to the FDA, in the United States there were "56,000 emergency room visits, 26,000 hospitalizations, and 458 deaths per year related to acetaminophen-associated overdoses during the 1990s. Within these estimates, unintentional acetaminophen overdose accounted for nearly 25 percent of the emergency department visits, 10 percent of the hospitalizations, and 25 percent of the deaths."
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracetamol#Liver_damage
Originally Posted by
Shimagnolo
I agree those acetaminophen statistics are suspect.
I had copy/pasted that for the harmful effects explanation, and when I went back and reread it later, the stats seemed excessive.
I'm not sure the statistics are that far off, although I'm surprised it would exceed Hepatitis for liver failure.
The 25%, 10%, and 25% are unintended ODs as a proportion of all Acetaminophen ODs (intentional+unintentional).
56K ER Visits, and 26K Hospital Admissions (out of 300 Million population) works out to be on the order of 1 in 1000 per year.
I have heard that Tylenol is the #1 suicide ATTEMPT drug. Apparently people don't realize that the point of no return can be arrived at quickly, but death rather slowly. Nonetheless, it does give time for the patient to get rushed to the hospital and to be "saved".
I think it is used so frequently because of access. Opiates or barbiturates might be choice drugs for suicide, but there is far more access to Tylenol.
I am surprised at the number of accidental ODs, but those numbers probably include < 10 yr old accidental poisonings.
Acetaminophen (Tylenol) does interact with alcohol, so perhaps a proportion of the patients with Acetaminophen toxicity would also be long-term chronic users of both Acetaminophen AND Alcohol, and perhaps also chronic Hepatitis B or C.
How many people take both Vicodin or Norco PLUS Tylenol?