Trust Tylenol?
I've long had my deep suspicions of the pharmaceutical industry, for reasons ranging from shady business practices to the abundance of dangerous prescription drugs that somehow make it to market to the highly suspicious pattern of SSRI's found in the bloodstreams of so many perpetrators of mass shootings. But sometimes you have to wonder just how safe drugs are even when they're so ingrained in the culture that hardly anyone even gives them a second thought. For example, Tylenol.
A recent investigation by ProPublica found that about 150 Americans die from accidental overdoses of acetaminophen each year. Of course, Tylenol, one of the best-known drugs containing acetaminophen, has been famous for its marketing campaigns touting how safe and effective the drug is, even claiming that most doctors prefer Tylenol to aspirin. But it turns out that accidentally overdosing may be a lot easier than people think and the manufacturer is, not surprisingly, doing very little about it.
A recent investigation by ProPublica found that about 150 Americans die from accidental overdoses of acetaminophen each year. Of course, Tylenol, one of the best-known drugs containing acetaminophen, has been famous for its marketing campaigns touting how safe and effective the drug is, even claiming that most doctors prefer Tylenol to aspirin. But it turns out that accidentally overdosing may be a lot easier than people think and the manufacturer is, not surprisingly, doing very little about it.