1Īcute acetaminophen overdose is defined as a single ingestion of the drug which occurs within a single 8-hour period.
People also sometimes take a high dose of acetaminophen to attempt suicide. Because of its prevalence and use in many combination products, it can be easy for patients to accidentally take too much acetaminophen without realizing it. It is found not only in common over-the-counter products, such as Tylenol®, FeverAll®, and Mapap®, but also in several over-the-counter and prescription combination products, such as Excedrin®, NyQuil™, Fioricet®, Norco®, and Vicodin®. After the patient had been stabilized using the widely accepted antidote discussed below, N-Acetylcysteine, my preceptor explained the prevalence of this toxicity as well as other possible treatments available to patients who are afflicted by this toxicity with emphasis on the fact that pharmacists and student pharmacists alike should be aware of the effects that seemingly harmless medications like acetaminophen can have when taken in large doses.Īcetaminophen is the most commonly used analgesic-antipyretic in the United States. Among these emergencies cases, I witnessed a patient experiencing an acetaminophen overdose and was surprised by the gravity of effects that a toxicity caused by such a commonly used medication can have on a patient. By: Kathleen Horan, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020ĭuring my institutional Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiential (IPPE) rotation in the emergency department at NYU Winthrop University Hospital in the spring of 2018, I witnessed a variety of interesting cases while shadowing my preceptor, emergency department pharmacist Megan Czuba, PharmD.
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