Health officials have warned the general public that millions of Americans who take popular over-the-counter pain pills have potentially serious side effects and therefore there must be some label changes to warn of the deadly risks. The combinations of these over-the-counter drugs can have serious side effects and may even lead to death.
Pain killers like aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen and other related over-the-counter drugs are safe and effective when used as directed, but the same drugs in high doses can be potentially hazardous.
Acetaminophen is sold under the brand name Tylenol and in multiple generic versions. Ibuprofen is sold under the brand names of Advil and Motrin and in generic form as well. Naproxen is sold as Aleve, and generically as well.
Overdoses of acetaminophen may cause serious liver damage and even death in some cases. Aspirin, ibuprofen and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, have a potential risk of gastrointestinal bleeding and kidney injury even when patients take the correct dose. These risks are also sometimes linked to deaths.
These drugs are found in hundreds of medicines for treating pain, headache and fever. The wide availability of those combination products can lead to patients unintentionally overdosing. There are reports of patients taking two or more medicines, for example, one for pain and another for flu symptoms, without knowing that they both contain acetaminophen.
Now there is an effort to highlight these warnings on the labels of the drugs. Now there would be more prominent disclosure, using fluorescent or bold-faced fonts, to indicate the presence of these drugs in the ingredients.
For example, for products containing acetaminophen, the labels would warn of the risk of severe liver damage if patients take more than the recommended dose or consume three or more alcoholic drinks a day while on the drugs. The labels would also warn people not to take multiple medicines that contain acetaminophen.
For drugs like aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the labels will contain warnings of stomach bleeding. The risk will be higher in patients older than 59, or in those who have stomach ulcers, take blood-thinning drugs or steroids, use other drugs that contain NSAID or continue using the medications for an extended period.
Over-the-counter medicines have real risks if misused. And there can be risks associated with not following label directions.
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