Acetaminophen News and Warnings
Rick Kuykendall notes this week's news:
The Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) met June 29 and 30, 2009 to discuss the risks to consumers for liver damage due to overdosing on the drug acetaminophen, one of the most commonly used active ingredients in medicines to relieve pain and fevers. Most people know that it’s in over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, like Tylenol and Excedrin, but it’s also in prescription drugs.
The FDA emphasizes that acetaminophen is generally safe when taken as directed currently and has been proven effective as a pain reliever and fever reducer. But acetaminophen can also cause liver damage when taken in excess of current recommended dosages. Nearly 500 deaths are attributed to an acetaminophen overdose each year.
A study of 22 specialty centers across the United States showed that an overdose of acetaminophen was the leading cause of acute liver failure for the years 1998 through 2003 and a 2007 study had similar findings. The FDA’s Advisory Committee warns that consumers may inadvertently take more acetaminophen than is safely recommended because of its widespread use in many drugs.
Source here.
Mr. Kuykendall began his law practice over twenty years ago in Birmingham, Alabama with one of the most successful union side Labor Law firms in the United States - Cooper, Mitch, Crawford and Kuykendall. After becoming the managing partner in 1983, he presided over the firm’s evolution into a successful and powerful plaintiff / public interest law firm with a nationwide practice. Despite the firm’s rapid growth and financial success, Rick never allowed it to deviate from its core mission of helping those who needed it the most, despite the odds.
Rick’s practice, while currently focused on complex litigation all over the country, also involves active efforts in alternative dispute resolution. Since 1995 he has been lead counsel or co-counsel in cases which resulted in verdicts and/or settlements far in excess of two billion dollars (over 500 million dollars since 2003 alone). These cases range from individual personal injuries to national mass and class actions in the areas of environmental, consumer and pharmaceutical law. Rick has served as a court appointed special master in the Anniston, Alabama Monsanto litigation.
Rick's daughter Amalee Kuykendall starts the University of Alabama this summer.
