FDA orders lower doses in prescription painkillers

Yahoo/AP ^ | 1/13/10 | MATTHEW PERRONE

[Red Badger]

A friend of ours practically destroyed her liver taking Tylenol for years for back pain......

[cripplecreek]

Shouldn’t this be up to actual doctors?

[EBH]

We keep aspirin on hand as an option.

[ColdOne]

Liver damage... what about people dying from cancer?

[Red Badger]

Acetaminophen, once considered safe, has now been shown to cause liver damage if taken in large doses for prolonged periods.....

[Red Badger]

Aspirin burns my stomach, so I use Advil. ....

[CrazyIvan]

Less per dose, people take more doses. Corolary to low volume toilets.

[cripplecreek]

Its been at least 10 years since I’ve taken anything stronger than asprin.

[Cementjungle]

I’m allergic to Acetaminophen... makes me break out in burn-like sores all over, which take a couple of weeks to scab over and heal. Nasty stuff (for me at least).

[Glenn]

Shouldn’t this be up to actual doctors?

You think too much of actual doctors.

That's not a slam. I'd be dead without them.

Doctors rely on the studies and opinions of others. They have no way to make all the determinations required to make a call like this.

[Cicero]

The politics of medicine. Medical research inevitably gives way to some sort of hot story in the press, and the results are damaging.

Aspirin had been used for many years, with few ill effects. But suddenly the media went wild. Aspirin was deadly dangerous. So people stopped taking it, and turned to things like tylenol instead.

Yes, there were problems with aspirin for a very few people. But it was still much, much safer than tylenol, IMHO. The doctor says take tylenol, but I find that aspirin is equally effective, and it’s not rotting my liver.

Same thing with that artificial sweetner, saccharine, that got kicked to the curb many years ago. It turns out that aspertame is far worse for you. But never mind, the media had a great story and ran with it. So the regulators hopped on board, as usual, and a relatively safe sweetener was replaced by a much less healthy one.

[jjw]

i think one problem may be that prescription drug abusers are getting too much acetaminophen when taking too many pain killers.

[Red Badger]

I wish I could say that.....

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

“Aspirin burns my stomach, so I use Advil.”

Try Enteric Aspirin. Doesn’t dissolve in the stomach. This is my preference. Available in many different brands. I just buy the store cheapie brand.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enteric_coating

[bitterohiogunclinger]

Of course not.
Doctors are scared to death to prescribe pain medication in the first place.
Yes, I know there are those that will abuse them, I don't care.
Typical gubmint plan to punish everyone because someone took too much.
How about we cut the acetaminophen down to 100mg and replace it with three times the codeine while making them available over the counter?
Anybody that has ever had an abscessed tooth on a weekend knows that OTC painkillers don't work.

[Paleo Conservative]

"One of the real challenges we have is that patients taking these products don't know they're taking acetaminophen at all," said FDA deputy director for new drugs, Dr. Sandra Kweder, in a telephone briefing with reporters. "They don't realize that they are overdosing."

So those of us who know what the hell is in them have to get reduced doses? I read the data sheets for every prescription I get.

[varina davis]

Bufferin (aspirin). It’s coated and easy on the stomach. Been using it for decades.

[TomGuy]

Over-the-counter extra pain reliever has 500mg per caplet.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

“Bufferin”

Yeah. But I’m a cheapskate in my old age. The store brands work just as well, and are usually quite a bit cheaper.