RT Book, Section A1 Hung, Oliver L. A1 Nelson, Lewis S. A2 Tintinalli, Judith E. A2 Stapczynski, J. Stephan A2 Ma, O. John A2 Yealy, Donald M. A2 Meckler, Garth D. A2 Cline, David M. SR Print(0) ID 1121512929 T1 Acetaminophen T2 Tintinalli’s Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide, 8e YR 2016 FD 2016 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9780071794763 LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1121512929 RD 2024/03/28 AB Acetaminophen (N-acetyl-p-aminophenol or paracetamol) is the most popular over-the-counter analgesic and is one of the most common toxic exposures reported to poison centers. Acetaminophen is available as a sole agent or combined with a variety of other medications prepared in many different forms, such as tablets, capsules, gels, and liquids. Poisonings often occur because of the erroneous belief that this medication is benign or because the victim was unaware that acetaminophen was an ingredient in the ingested preparation.1 The U.S. Acute Liver Failure Study Group found that acetaminophen poisoning was the cause of acute liver failure in 18% of cases initially judged to be of unknown cause.2 Acetaminophen–opioid combination products have been implicated in chronic overuse, likely due to an increasing opioid requirement leading to concomitantly increasing acetaminophen exposure. In response to these safety concerns, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently limited the prescription acetaminophen–opioid combination preparation strength to 325 milligrams per dosage unit and now requires a boxed warning to notify consumers of the potential risk for serious liver toxicity.3