[Thursday July 28, 2011

Tylenol Maker Lowers Maximum Dose

McNeil Consumer Healthcare announced it is lowering the maximum daily dose instructions for Extra Strength Tylenol to six pills a day (3,000 mg) to reduce the risk of acetaminophen overdose.]

http://www.medpagetoday.com/ProductAlert/OTC/27789

That sounds to me like they're trying to approach the long-term (more than 2 weeks) dose recommendation of 2600 mg. per day because currently, the labels don't say anything about that except (possibly) to consult your doctor if taking it longer than 2 weeks (just guessing here - don't have a bottle handy to check).

Most "folks" (thanks to McNeil's marketing) think tylenol is "safe" regardless of how long they take it (if not how much they take), so they'll gulp down those 4000 mg. for years if helps their minor aches & pains.

Interesting discussion about all this took place several years ago (1995-2004)on Usenet between some doctors: http://yarchive.net/med/tylenol.html
It gets really interesting about halfway down thru the end....