On June 30^th it was reported that an FDA advisory panel recommended eliminating prescription drugs that combine acetaminophen with narcotics -- such as Vicodin and Percocet -- because of their risk for overdose and for severe liver injury.  The panel, assembled by the Food and Drug Administration, voted 20 to 17 to advise the FDA to remove such prescription combination drugs from the market.  The group recommended that the FDA "send a clear message that there's a high likelihood of overdose from prescription narcotics and acetaminophen products."

After an extensive search, I could not find the statistics that indicate how extensive a problem statistically a large and continuous daily dose of acetaminophen is.  However, it is very clear that a deliberate overdose of acetaminophen is a serious issue.  I do fully accept the medical literature that supports limiting acetaminophen to short term dosing of 4000 mg per day and 2000 mg as a maintenance dose.  This information has been widely and well known within the medical community for a number of years. 

The show revealed that it is the medical community creating the problem of acetaminophen to the point of the FDA implying that hydrocodone and oxycodone are safer alternatives to a combination of either drug combined with acetaminophen.  According to IMS data prescriptions containing hydrocodone and acetaminophen increased by 48% from 2000 to 2006.  In terms of numbers, over 40 million more combination products that included hydrocodone were filled in 2006 than in 2000.  As a result, the FDA has created the correlation of increasing liver disease and acetaminophen.

The reaction from the FDA is to take acetaminophen out of the equation and encourage the medical profession to move to straight hydrocodone or oxycodone.  In Florida, according to the Florida  Medical Examiners Report for 2008, we lost 870 people that included  Hydrocodone and 1,574 people that implicated oxycodone. 

We have an entire medical establishment that does not understand the inherent dangers of the “cousins” to heroin and the FDA is on the verge of implying these inherently dangerous drugs should be encouraged over acetaminophen.  The medical establishment is creating thousands of new people addicted and chained to the opioid related drugs and the FDA continues to mislead and misinform. 

Take two aspirin or two Tylenol for that headache?  No thanks, hydrocodone or oxycodone from your FDA.