Just wanted to pass on some information on a medical emergency that occurred in our family recently. I want to stress that we are not doctors and this is not medical advice, just relaying what happened to a relative by marriage and you can draw your own conclusions.
This young woman was on holiday in Hawaii with her husband and small child. She thought she had the flu and spent most of her time sitting around the pool taking a cold remedy containing
acetominophen/paracetamol. She finally went to a hospital when her condition worsened. She was admitted and diagnosed with moderate to severe liver damage.
After ruling out many causes, including alcohol the doctors decided the liver failure was probably caused by her taking the cold remedy.
She continued to deteriorate, family members rushed to her bedside and last weekend she underwent a liver transplant.
Doctors in both Hawaii and Canada decided she was too ill to be flown home to Canada for the
operation so it was performed in Hawaii.
A friend who is up on this sort of thing sent us this info:-
"Unfortunately, acetominophen/paracetamol induced liver failure isn't a rare occurrence and there's increasing literature for doctors warning against giving patients anything with acetominophen in it to prevent this from happening. But this information isn't getting to patients quickly enough and because the active ingredient is so ubiquitous and readily available from every store from 7-11 to Sobey's, and is found in many different forms, it's easy to overdose on it quite unintentionally. It doesn't take much to reach the daily maximum and since acetominophen is found in nearly all OTC cold medications, you almost need a pharmacy degree to buy OTC meds without worrying about complications.
Since the doctor's have begun treatment early enough, and if her liver was healthy to begin with, she might not have much scarring or permanent damage"
One of the scariest parts of this whole thing is that after the transplant operation the doctor mentioned the possibility of brain damage.
Just want to spread the word about the possibility of damage when taking acetominophen
and if anyone has anything to share on this subject please go ahead.
Peggy Halstead,
Brain Power Learning Group
One of the scariest parts of this whole thing is that after the transplant operation the doctor mentioned the possibility of brain damage.
Just want to spread the word about the possibility of damage when taking acetominophen
and if anyone has anything to share on this subject please go ahead.
Peggy Halstead,
Brain Power Learning Group
