ASCPT In Brief

Tylenol use in alcoholics: The recommendation by some practitioners that alcoholics avoid use of acetaminophen or decrease their daily dose "is not supported by prospective data," Edwin Kuffner, MD, Rocky Mountain Poison & Drug Center, Denver Colo., et al., find. The prospective placebo-controlled trial was presented at the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. March 2-5. The authors followed 385 alcoholics for three days, giving 262 of the patients 4 g/day of acetaminophen while the other 123 patients received placebo. "Alcoholics treated with the maximal daily recommended dose of [acetaminophen] for three days did not develop liver injury," the authors maintain...