Liver failure linked to pain pill

The Washington Times reports:

Accidental poisonings from the nation's most popular pain reliever seem to be rising, making acetaminophen the leading cause of acute liver failure.
Use it correctly and acetaminophen, best known by the Tylenol brand, lives up to its reputation as one of the safest painkillers. It's taken by about 100 million people a year, and liver damage occurs in only a small fraction of users.
But it's damage, often avoidable, that can kill or require a liver transplant.
The problem comes when people don't follow dosing instructions -- or unwittingly take too much, not realizing acetaminophen is in hundreds of products, from the over-the-counter remedies Theraflu and Excedrin to the prescription narcotics Vicodin and Percocet.
"The argument that it's the safest sort of has overruled the idea that people cannot take any amount they feel like," said Dr. William Lee of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Acetaminophen bottles recommend that adults take no more than 4,000 milligrams a day, or eight extra-strength pills.
Just a doubling of the maximum daily dose can be enough to kill, warns Dr. Anne Larson of the University of Washington Medical Center.

Read the directions.It may help you.