There has been a lot of talk in the media lately about dangerous drugs, mainly because of Senator George Mitchell's report on the use of performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball. I do not wish to talk about steroids or HGH in this article, as I feel them to be harmless when taken under the supervision of doctors. What I do wish to talk about is one of the most dangerous drugs sold in America today. One of the reasons why this drug is so dangerous is that it is sold without a prescription, over the counter, in every drugstore, supermarket, bodega, and gas station in this country, which leads people to believe that it is harmless. This drug can be deadly, either when taken in overdose, or by people with certain physical conditions, such as certain types of hepatitis or cirrhosis of the liver, or when combined with large amounts of alcohol. It causes the liver to fail, and is the leading cause of liver failure in the United States.

This drug is Tylenol. 

Yesterday morning I sat in shock as a presenter on the CBS breakfast television show interviewed an individual, purporting to be a doctor, who actually recommended Tylenol as a cure for hangovers and indulging too much in alcoholic beverages on New Years Eve. I don't think I was ever so horrified in my life. I immediately fired off an e-mail to CBS News demanding an immediate retraction and warning them that some people would die or need liver transplants because of the dangerous and incorrect information they were casually handing out. That was over 24 hours ago, and I have heard nothing. No retraction, no message. Of course you know this means war.

"It's extremely frustrating to see people come into the hospital who were fine up until a few days ago, but now they need a new liver" says Dr. Tim Davern, a member of the liver transplant team at the University of California at at San Fransisco. "Most had no idea that what they were taking could have that sort of effect". Dr. Davern and a group of colleagues tracked the 662 patients who showed up with acute liver failure at 23 transplant centers across the United States from 1998 to 2003.

Acetaminophen (the generic name for Tylenol) was to blame in more than half the patients. An estimated 44% were suicide attempts. But in least another 48% of the cases the victims were young women, generally of a petite stature, who had the flu and were not eating much. They started on Tylenol and then added an over the counter flu medication. This added up to about six grams of acetaminophen a day and in certain cases was enough to throw them into liver failure, according to Dr. Davern. 

Even only taking eight grams in a single day, a significant number of people whose livers have been stressed by a virus, medication, alcohol or other factors would run into serious trouble, according to Dr. William Lee, a liver specialist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Without a medical intervention, about half the people who swallowed a single dose of 12 to 15 grams would die, says Lee. "Part of the problem is that the labeling on so many of these drugs is still crummy"

Dr Lee has been attempting for years to force the Food and Drug Administration to put the words "Acetaminophen" in large letters on the label of any product containing this dangerous drug. Why has he had no success? Why is the fact that mixing Tylenol with alcohol potentially harmful or even fatal a closely held secret? Why does CBS, now forever to be known in this space as "The Cadaver Broadcasting System" as they seem not to care if they put out information on their television shows that might harm or kill people, seem totally unconcerned?

Yesterday I purchased a bottle of Tylenol, as a test. Tylenol is manufactured by the huge and powerful corporation Johnson & Johnson. On the back of the bottle, in letters so tiny that even with my reading glasses I could not make them out without assistance, is the statement that it is dangerous to take Tylenol with more than three glasses of alcohol. In my opinion, acetaminophen or Tylenol should have a huge warning label on the front of the bottle, stating that it is a dangerous and powerful drug, and that NO alcohol can be consumed while it it being taken. Large billboards should also be erected, paid for by Johnson & Johnson, in every town of any size, stating these same facts. If those who push this drug do not want to take these steps, then Tylenol should become a prescription drug.

I am not CBS. I do not have access to millions of viewers. I am not Johnson & Johnson. I do not have millions of dollars. I hereby challenge CBS and Johnson & Johnson to do something about this growing and tragic problem and I would like to state that if they do not they are no better than murderers.