Chronic Pain Support Group

Yes, this has been in the news since yesterday......... Honestly knowing the damage that Acetaminophen causes the liver and knowing how many thousands of Americans die every year do to Acetaminophen over load on the liver, it doesn't surprise me that this is happening.
At least there are lots and lots of medications out there that are still available that contain no tylenol and are as good or better for pain management.
This panel made a recommendation, this has not be written in stone yet. I am sure that the pharmaceuticals and their lobby will be all over Washington and the FDA trying to come to some kind of deal........ there is too much money to be lost by too many people and after all, this is about money,
In Good Morning America they were talking about the pharmaceuticals keeping both Vicodin and Percocet but with lower amounts of Acetaminophen, or NO tylenol at all! Just making the medications straight Oxycodone instead of the mix. Will see what happens.........

The tylenol version of the drugs already exists. I used to be on percocet - which is oxycodone and tylenol and in Jan. of this year I swithced to straight oxycodone. Vicodin is a mix of hydrocodone and tylenol, yet millions already take straight hydrocodone. Whats going to happen - I can see it coming is that all the people on the mixed opiates (containing tylenol or ibuprofen) are going to be switched to straight oxycodone or hydrocodone and its gonna cause a major shortage and there will be chaos. The manufacturing company certainly does not have stock of oxycodone or hydrocodone for the millions if not billions of people that will be suddenly switched to it.

When is this ban going to take place?

They have not set an official date yet - but i'm sure it will be very soon due to the seriousness of the issue. The pharmaceutical company and their lobby cannot appeal the decision and can not get the decision reversed. This is the end of a five year debate and the ruling is final.

What we need on here is a little funtion that translates US drug names into UK drug names, because I'm not actually sure what our equivalent drug to Acetaminophen is here, but I am interested to see what drugs are now not available over the counter there that are still available here and vice versa. Thanks, Jennie

The brand name is tylenol. Dont you have tylenol in the UK?

If we did have Tylenol, I wouldn't have said what I said, because I'd know what it is! No we don't have Tylenol. We have Paracetamol, which I have just discovered is the same thing, and readily available over the counter in every supermarket, petrol station and pharmacy over here. There was a big push a few years ago to manufacture it with the overdoes remedy built-in, so to speak, but I don't think it came to anything, and accidental overdosing here is regretably commonplace. But as far as I know, there are no moves afoot to ban it from being sold. And it is dirt cheap, you can get 12 tablets for about a quarter. Jennie

what do you think they will replace it with (Percocet, Vocodin)?

We don't have those brand names here either, but looking at them on Wikkipedia, I see they both have acitominophen in also. We have a drug called Co-codamol, which is codeine and acitominophen mixed together and also freely available to buy over the counter. I don't know what they could replace it with. I don't generally take acitominophen myself, as I don't find it terribly effective on its own, but I do take the one mixed with codeine. Also Ibuprofen, do you call it the same? An anti-inflammatory, but not good for asthmatics, and can cause ulcers. There's no one perfect painkiller, is there? Jennie

There already is a replacment. Percocet is tylenol and oxycodone - but straight oxycodone (percocet minus the tylenol) has been prescribed for the last 30 years - its what I take. Vicodin is tylenol and hydrocodone - but straight hydrocodone is available as a prescription as well.