The public radio show, This American Life, recently devoted an hour to the over-the-counter painkiller acetaminophen and how easy it is to overdose on it. The story examined the long history of labeling issues Tylenol, a brand-name medication using acetaminophen manufactured by McNeill Consumer Healthcare (a division of Johnson and Johnson), has had with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
A large portion of the story is devoted to labeling confusion regarding proper dosages for Infants’ Tylenol and Childrens’ Tylenol for children under two year old. This issue first came to light in 1995 and continued to be a problem that went unaddressed by the FDA.
The story points out how easy it is to overdose on acetaminophen, especially when considering how many over-the-counter medications use the drug.
Click here and here for related ProPublica articles on acetaminophen overdose risk.
