A federal advisory panel voted narrowly on Tuesday to recommend a ban on Percocet and Vicodin, two of the most popular prescription painkillers in the world, because of their effects on the liver.

Since the acetaminophen component of those drugs is what's at issue -- not the narcotic component -- it seems that doctors could just prescribe the single-component narcotic w/o the acetaminophen.

Couldn't they reformulate it with ibuprofen or something?

acetaminophen has benefits that ibuprofen doesn't, like a fever reducer. And, the fact is that ibuprofen doesn't work for some people, like me. Advil doesn't do shit for my pain, but two extra strength tylenol, and I'm good to go.

Since the acetaminophen component of those drugs is what's at issue -- not the narcotic component -- it seems that doctors could just prescribe the single-component narcotic w/o the acetaminophen.

Exactly. That's what my mom takes now.

Since the acetaminophen component of those drugs is what's at issue -- not the narcotic component -- it seems that doctors could just prescribe the single-component narcotic w/o the acetaminophen.

Is the other ingredient available separately for doctors to prescribe? (I've never understood the painkillers used in the US - different ones are generally prescribed here.) I used to take a formulation of dihydrocodeine and acetaminophen, but it gave me headaches. Taking the dihyd. separately from the acetaminophen, then adding the acet. in smaller quantities if I need it, always seemed to work better. I've had the headaches with other narcotic painkillers when combined with acetaminophen. Over here, I'm fairly sure there are doctors who prefer to prescribe the ones that include acet. because they think people are afraid of the effects and therefore less likely to overdose. Of course, the reverse is what's actually happening. We've recently had co-proxamol, a popular combination narcotic painkiller, banned to prevent accidents. That's annoyed a whole lot of people for whom other medications don't work.

Aceteminophen is available here in drugstores without a prescription as Tylenol.

They're talking about reducing the maximum dose per pil from 500 mg to 375. Which is fucking stupid. What will happen is that people will start taking three of the "regular" strength pills, therefore getting 175mg MORE than the old dose. Idiots!

My dad was one of the people inadvertently OD-ing on acetaminophen. He takes percocet for diabetic neuropathy, and was also taking Tylenol PM for insomnia. He didn't realize that percocet has acetaminophen (or didn't realize that acetaminophen -- which was on the percocet bottle label -- is the generic name for Tylenol).

Nothing bad happened, as far as I know, but when I realized he was taking the 2 drugs, I told him to just get benadryl, since that's the sleep-making part of Tylenol PM anyway.

Aceteminophen is available here in drugstores without a prescription as Tylenol.

Yeah, here too (different brand name). It's the others that are treated differently in each country. Last time I was in New York I went looking for codeine for my migraines, and was told it's prescription-only. Next visit, I'm taking my own (plus a copy of the prescription!)...

What will happen is that people will start taking three of the "regular" strength pills, therefore getting 175mg MORE than the old dose.

Do you (not just Vortex; the general "you") think that more people ignore the limits given on the bottle of an OTC drug, or adhere to them? Because I know a ton of people who REFUSE to ever take more of any OTC drug than the bottle says, even when I point out that when the same drug is prescribed, the dose is 2x that amount. Like ibuprofen.