“FDA Limits Acetaminophen in Prescription Combination Products Including Arthritis Painkillers - About - News & Issues” plus 1 more - Extreme Sports

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FDA Limits Acetaminophen in Prescription Combination Products Including Arthritis Painkillers - About - News & Issues Posted: 13 Jan 2011 04:00 PM PST The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it is asking manufacturers of prescription combination products that contain acetaminophen to keep the upper limit of acetaminophen in each tablet or capsule to 325 milligrams. Manufacturers are also required to update labels of all prescription combination acetaminophen products to warn of the potential risk for severe liver injury. Arthritis patients may more easily recognize acetaminophen by its brand name, Tylenol. Acetaminophen is the generic equivalent of Tylenol. The actions the FDA is taking for prescription combination acetaminophen products do not affect over-the-counter acetaminophen products. So, over-the-counter extra-strength Tylenol or acetaminophen will still be sold as pain and fever medication, as will over-the-counter cough and cold medications that contain acetaminophen. The new limit of 325 mg. acetaminophen per tablet or capsule only applies to prescription combination products. What's a prescription combination product in this case? A prescription combination product requires a prescription from your doctor to purchase -- and the drug contains acetaminophen combined with another ingredient. Opioids such as codeine (Tylenol with Codeine), oxycodone (Percocet), and hydrocodone (Vicodin) are examples. Propoxyphene-APAP (Darvocet) was also an example, but it was taken off the market in November 2010. According to the FDA, the change will be phased in over three years and should not create a shortage of pain medication. The FDA believes that prescription combination products containing no more than 325 mg of acetaminophen per tablet are still effective for treating pain and will be safer. But there is no immediate danger and you do not need to stop taking the aforementioned opioids cold turkey -- which could itself cause problems if you stopped suddenly. The risk of liver injury has long been a concern for patients taking multiple products containing acetaminophen together -- or for those who exceeded the maximum dose of 4000 mg. in a 24-hour period. Do you feel like this is a necessary move by the FDA or that chronic pain patients are paying a price because of people who don't follow drug precautions? Related Resources: Join the Discussion: Photo by Diane Diederich (iStockphoto) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured site: So, Why is Wikileaks a Good Thing Again?. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Spirituality and Health: Getting to the Soul of the Matter - Albany Times Union (blog) Posted: 14 Jan 2011 03:05 AM PST [fivefilters.org: unable to retrieve full-text content] We smiled, embraced, met eye to eye, heart to heart, and went on our separate ways. Spiritual wounds are often overlooked in the context of health care encounters. Spiritual wounds do not appear on x-rays nor can they be picked up on blood testing. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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