Acetaminophen: Not Worth the Risk
By the Children's Health Defense Team
Acetaminophen has been around for over a century and is the most widely used drug compound in the world. In the U.S., acetaminophen (also called paracetamol or APAP) is present as an active ingredient in over 600 prescription and over-the-counter medications marketed to relieve pain or reduce fever, including Tylenol. Every week, nearly one in four Americans takes an acetaminophen-containing medication, and pediatricians routinely recommend acetaminophen as the treatment of choice for fever in children.
Acetaminophen's many critics argue that the drug’s path to prominence has been littered with errors, false assumptions and undue complacency about risks. Documented problems include liver damage, cardiovascular disease, renal injury, asthma, and developmental problems. In the critics’ view, these and other problems make acetaminophen one of the most dangerous compounds in medical use. The abundant literature describing toxic outcomes suggest that it may be time for acetaminophen’s glory days to come to a close.
READ MORE
|