{"id":77534,"date":"2025-10-14T09:43:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T09:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/77534\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T09:43:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T09:43:21","slug":"taking-too-much-tylenol-has-proven-risks-trump-didnt-talk-about-those","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/77534\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking Too Much Tylenol Has Proven Risks. Trump Didn\u2019t Talk About Those."},"content":{"rendered":"

President Trump went far beyond the science when, based on an unproven link and inconclusive studies, he warned<\/a> last month that taking the pain reliever acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, during pregnancy caused autism.<\/p>\n

But for decades, doctors and scientists have sounded an alarm about a different risk associated with acetaminophen products that is well established: liver damage from accidentally overdosing on the drug.<\/p>\n

Experts emphasize that acetaminophen is safe when taken as directed. But when people take too much, either intentionally or unintentionally, it can cause such serious injury to the liver that it can lead to hospitalization, a liver transplant or even death.<\/p>\n

Every year, a few hundred Americans die from liver failure from unintentionally taking too much acetaminophen, often because, while struggling with pain, they lose track of how much they have taken, according to medical researchers. Suicides involving acetaminophen account for additional deaths.<\/p>\n

Relative to the number of people who take acetaminophen, the number of overdoses is very small. But because billions of doses of the drug are taken by Americans each year, acetaminophen overdoses are nevertheless the leading cause<\/a> of acute liver failure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s an acceptably safe medication,\u201d said Dr. Timothy Davern, a liver specialist in San Francisco who treats people with severe liver injury or acute liver failure from acetaminophen poisoning. \u201cBut if it\u2019s used in higher doses, we\u2019re all susceptible to liver injury from that. The consequences can be devastating.\u201d<\/p>\n

The labels<\/a> of all Tylenol products<\/a>, which are usually taken as pills or liquids, say that \u201csevere liver damage may occur\u201d if users take too much: more than four grams \u2014 or 4,000 milligrams \u2014 in 24 hours. For Tylenol Extra Strength<\/a> for adults, that would be more than eight tablets: Each tablet contains 500 milligrams of acetaminophen. The label also warns people against taking the drug if they consume at least three alcoholic drinks \u201cevery day while using this product.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Tylenol label warns of severe liver damage if used improperly.Credit…Johnson & Johnson<\/p>\n

Public attention on Tylenol soared after Mr. Trump\u2019s warning. Many doctors<\/a> viewed the president\u2019s words as reckless, and said that the drug, one of few options for pregnant women with high fevers, was already used sparingly.<\/p>\n

Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol<\/a>, has repeatedly defended the drug\u2019s safety. It said<\/a> that acetaminophen was the safest pain relief option for pregnant women, but added that they should consult their doctors before taking it.<\/p>\n

Tylenol has been on the market for 70 years and is the best known among some 600 products containing acetaminophen. Each week, nearly a quarter<\/a> of U.S. adults use acetaminophen.<\/p>\n

Johnson & Johnson sold Tylenol for decades. Over the years, and often under pressure from U.S. regulators, the company has issued a series of safety warnings and updates<\/a> to try to prevent overdoses. Nearly all emergency departments stock an antidote to acetaminophen poisoning \u2014 nicknamed N.A.C.<\/a> for its chemical name, N-acetylcysteine \u2014 that has saved countless lives.<\/p>\n

But unintentional deaths, hospitalizations and the need for liver transplants persist.<\/p>\n

Nearly 3,900 people died from unintentional acetaminophen poisoning over 25 years, according to death certificate data tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts who have studied the issue said the C.D.C. data, while imperfect, was the best estimate of accidental deaths primarily involving acetaminophen.<\/p>\n

People sometimes take too much acetaminophen in part because they perceive the drug, which is readily accessible on the shelves of most American supermarkets and drugstores, to be harmless.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re lulled into a false sense of security because it\u2019s not a prescription drug,\u201d Dr. Davern said. (In 2015, Dr. Davern was a paid expert witness for plaintiffs in lawsuits claiming liver damage from Tylenol.)<\/p>\n

Kenvue, the Johnson & Johnson spinoff company that has made Tylenol since 2023, said it has tried to help people use the product appropriately.<\/p>\n

Melissa Witt, a spokeswoman for Kenvue, said the company and its predecessor \u201chave studied this topic for decades.\u201d She also said it was \u201cimportant for consumers to read and follow product labels.\u201d<\/p>\n

When acetaminophen is taken as directed, the liver generally metabolizes it without a problem. But at higher levels taken over sustained periods, the drug can overwhelm the body\u2019s defenses and kill liver cells.<\/p>\n

Anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen taken in excess almost never cause liver damage, but they can cause other serious side effects, like gastrointestinal bleeding or kidney damage. Stronger painkillers, like opioids, have their own dangers. These problems are part of why acetaminophen became so widely used.<\/p>\n

\u2018The common factor is pain\u2019<\/p>\n

Dr. Richard Dart has been studying the characteristics of people who overdose on acetaminophen for years as the director of a poison center at Denver\u2019s public hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe common factor is pain,\u201d Dr. Dart said. \u201cIt\u2019s often dental pain or low back pain, or people who can\u2019t get access to stronger pain medicines, so they take too much acetaminophen.\u201d<\/p>\n

People in these situations, he said, often take a handful of pills every few hours and lose track of the count. The small print used in safety warnings on pill bottles does not help. \u201cWhen you\u2019ve got pain, and you\u2019re suffering, you\u2019re not reading labels carefully,\u201d Dr. Dart said. \u201cYou\u2019re not getting your magnifying glass out, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. William Lee, a professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, recounted a case he recently heard about: A woman in her 70s had been falling frequently and appeared to have bruised or cracked a few ribs, but told no one for fear of losing her independence. She started taking Tylenol to relieve her pain, but did not keep track of how much she was taking or how often. She wound up in the intensive care unit with liver damage and nearly died, Dr. Lee said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it probably does need stronger warnings,\u201d he said. (Years ago, Dr. Lee was an expert witness on behalf of plaintiffs in lawsuits claiming liver damage from Tylenol. He said he was not paid for that work, at his request.)<\/p>\n

People who abuse alcohol are more likely to experience acetaminophen poisoning. Some research suggests that this is driven at least partly by behaviors like losing track of how many pills were taken because of intoxication. People who drink heavily may also damage their liver, making it more susceptible to injuries from acetaminophen.<\/p>\n

For years, Dr. Dart said, his research group has received funding from Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue to study acetaminophen\u2019s risks to the liver, including work on the association with alcohol.<\/p>\n

Experts said they virtually never see pregnant women with Tylenol poisoning, because the women tend to be extra cautious about taking medicine.<\/p>\n

The accidental overdoses generally involve steadily taking too much of the drug over several days. People often don\u2019t know there is a problem until the liver damage is already severe, because there are often few or no early symptoms. That can dangerously delay treatment because the antidote must be given promptly to take full effect.<\/p>\n

Mixed results from legal claims<\/p>\n

Over the years, hundreds of plaintiffs have sued Johnson & Johnson, saying that the company had not done enough to warn users of Tylenol\u2019s liver danger. The plaintiffs are people claiming that they survived accidental Tylenol poisonings or families of people who died.<\/p>\n

In the 1990s, one high-profile case received national attention. Antonio Benedi, a 37-year-old who had just left his job as a White House aide at the end of President George H.W. Bush\u2019s term, took Tylenol Extra Strength for a few days while sick with the flu and barely eating, he said. He fell into a coma, nearly died and received an emergency liver transplant.<\/p>\n

Mr. Benedi sued, and a jury ordered the company to pay him<\/a> more than $8 million. Now 70, he said he has struggled with years of health problems stemming from losing his liver. \u201cIt\u2019s been a rocky road,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kenvue declined to comment on Mr. Benedi\u2019s case. In the 1990s, the company\u2019s lawyers argued that its Tylenol warnings were adequate and that a virus or something else unrelated to acetaminophen caused Mr. Benedi\u2019s liver injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Trump went far beyond the science when, based on an unproven link and inconclusive studies, he warned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[134,12220,12221,60322,4255,524,111,139,69,60321,15849,60320],"class_list":{"0":"post-77534","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-johnson-johnson","10":"tag-kenvue-inc","11":"tag-labeling-and-labels-product","12":"tag-liver","13":"tag-medication","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz","17":"tag-pain-relieving-drugs","18":"tag-transplants","19":"tag-tylenol-drug"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}