Acetaminophen Dangers

The federal government is changing one of the ingredients in prescription painkillers in order to reduce the amount of one of the more dangerous substances in those painkillers. But that substance is one most of us tend to take for granted.

The FDA is limiting the amount of acetaminophen in popular pain medication pills like vicodin or percocet. And they are doing it because it's been linked to thousands of cases of liver damage every year. This ingredient is also the active ingredient in over-the-counter pain medicine like Tylenol, Nyquil or thousands of other medications used to treat any variety of ailments. Most of us tend to take it for granted and it's even touted as being one of the few safe medications pregnant women can use. But like all medicines, both prescription and over the counter, acetaminophen does have side effects. And it's most dangerous one is liver damage, especially if taken in large doses.

One of the problems with the prescription painkillers is that most people don't realize they contain acetaminophen, party because sometimes it's written out as APAP, it's chemical abbreviation. But combine a percocet with a Tylenol and you can begin to reach dangerous levels of this drug. So to help out, the FDA is limiting the amount of this ingredient in prescription pain pills.