Following up on the Harman Law LLC Tylenol and Liver Failure blog post from July 22:
The Associate Press reports today that Tylenol manufacturer Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Healthcare unit announced plans to add extra warnings on the over the counter pain reliever’s packaging. Starting in October of this year, the cap on Extra Strength Tylenol will include “ALWAYS READ THE LABEL” and “CONTAINS ACETAMINOPHEN.” The cap warnings will be placed on other products.
The AP report says between 55,000 to 80,000 people per year end up in the emergency room and that at least 500 die due to acetaminophen overdoses.
Increased scrutiny of Tylenol and similar products
Concern over Tylenol and similar over the counter pain relievers has been growing in the past several years. The FDA has a page devoted to acetaminophen toxicity. According to the AP, adding the warning to the Tylenol caps:
Comes at a critical time for the company, which faces more than 85 personal injury lawsuits in federal court that blame Tylenol for liver injuries and deaths. At the same time, the Food and Drug Administration is drafting long-awaited safety proposals that could curtail the use of Tylenol and other acetaminophen products.
Acetaminophen is big business. Total sales of all over the counter medications with the formulation were more than $1.75 billion last year according to Information Resources, Inc.
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