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Jul 01, 2009 -- Popular painkillers may be banned because of acetaminophen

In May, Clark told you that an advisory panel was being convened by the FDA to address the question of how to label products that contain acetaminophen.

Well, that panel has come back and recommended a ban on Percocet and Vicodin, which combine narcotics with acetaminophen. Exactly what the FDA will do with this recommendation remains unclear.

Acetaminophen is the active ingredient in a seemingly benign dose of Tylenol. However, the dangers of liver failure and death associated with unintended large doses of acetaminophen are well documented.

It's particularly dangerous when you have flu symptoms and take a cold remedy that contains acetaminophen (such as Nyquil, for example) with a couple of Tylenol in addition to that. The combo can be truly deadly. In fact, acetaminophen is the leading cause of liver failure.

So be alert and wary of the problem with medications that have acetaminophen in them.

Tylenol may get a black box warning as a result of the panel's recommendations. Know that the people at Tylenol are not in any way trying to harm the public. It's just one of those things where they built a famous name brand around a substance that now has a big, red target on it.
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