Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

What physicians can do to curb over-the-counter medicine misuse

Charles Melbern Wilcox, MD
Meds
April 19, 2014
Share
Tweet
Share

Every year, it is estimated that more than 126,000 hospitalizations and nearly 17,000 deaths in this country are linked to overuse of over-the-counter (OTC) pain medicine ingredients — specifically acetaminophen and NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs).

In my own practice, it’s not uncommon to find patients who are taking two to four times the recommended doses. This can have tragic results.

Recently, we had a young woman with liver failure. She had been taking acetaminophen for back pain at a rate beyond the recommended dose. She was comatose when I evaluated her and later died from that misuse.

For those of us in the field of gastroenterology, this is a well-known and serious issue. But for consumers, OTC medicines seem harmless. Why is that? And what can we as physicians do to turn the tide? Simply put, we have to talk with our patients about this issue.

While we know that NSAIDs and acetaminophen are different drugs, these terms are meaningless to most consumers. They recognize brand names such as Advil®, NyQuil® and Tylenol® but not shared ingredients. We know, however, that acetaminophen is in more than 500 prescription and OTC products and NSAIDs are in more than 550. We have to tell our patients to read labels and know what they’re taking.

As a physician, it’s shocking to me that 35 percent of adults mistakenly believe it is safe to take two medicines with the same ingredient concurrently. Couple that with the extreme prevalence of these drugs and it’s no wonder we’re seeing an increase in medicine-related liver damage and gastrointestinal bleeding.

More than 50 million people use acetaminophen pain relievers each week, while 30 million take OTC and prescription NSAIDs daily.

Not only is prevalence an issue, but many adults also incorrectly believe that taking more medicine in a shorter period of time will bring faster relief. That seemingly innocuous act of taking more medicine than recommended or combining medicines with the same active ingredients can have serious, even deadly, consequences. Physicians need to tell patients about these consequences.

Between 1998 and 2003, acetaminophen was the leading cause of acute liver failure in the U.S., with 48 percent of cases being accidental overdoses. The risk of gastrointestinal bleeding is greater when aspirin is taken concurrently with other NSAIDs (raising the risk from 2.6 percent to 5.6 percent).

To help turn the tide on tragic stories, health care professionals must make a point of advising our patients to always read the labels of their various medicines; to take only one product at a time that contains acetaminophen or an NSAID; and, if the recommended dose isn’t working, to consult us about other options for managing pain.

The American Gastroenterological Association recently launched an education campaign called Gut Check: Know Your Medicine to encourage safe use of OTC pain medicine. Physicians can visit gutcheck.gastro.org for more information and resources, includingdownloadable materials to display in their office.

By raising awareness and educating the public about safe OTC pain medicine use, we can help ensure that these preventable health issues decline rather than continue their upward trend.

Charles Melbern Wilcox is a gastroenterologist and a professor of medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.

ADVERTISEMENT

Prev

ICD-10 will accelerate the demise of private practice

April 19, 2014 Kevin 27
…
Next

7 ways chronic illness imposes an extra burden on the young

April 19, 2014 Kevin 2
…

Tagged as: Gastroenterology

Post navigation

< Previous Post
ICD-10 will accelerate the demise of private practice
Next Post >
7 ways chronic illness imposes an extra burden on the young

ADVERTISEMENT

More in Meds

  • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

    GJ van Londen, MD
  • Pharmacists are key to expanding Medicaid access to digital therapeutics

    Amanda Matter
  • How medicine repurposing enables value-based pain management and insomnia therapy

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

    Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA
  • From stigma to science: Rethinking the U.S. drug scheduling system

    Artin Asadipooya
  • How drugmakers manipulate your health from diagnosis to prescription

    Martha Rosenberg
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • When a medical office sublease turns into a legal nightmare

      Ralph Messo, DO | Physician
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      GJ van Londen, MD | Meds
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Life’s detours may be blessings in disguise

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Physician
    • Inside the heart of internal medicine: Why we stay

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • The quiet grief behind hospital walls

      Aaron Grubner, MD | Physician
    • Why peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • Bundled payments in Medicare: Will fixed pricing reshape surgery costs?

      AMA Committee on Economics and Quality in Medicine, Medical Student Section | Policy
    • How Project ECHO is fighting physician isolation and transforming medical education [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 4 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • When a medical office sublease turns into a legal nightmare

      Ralph Messo, DO | Physician
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      GJ van Londen, MD | Meds
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Life’s detours may be blessings in disguise

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Physician
    • Inside the heart of internal medicine: Why we stay

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • The quiet grief behind hospital walls

      Aaron Grubner, MD | Physician
    • Why peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • Bundled payments in Medicare: Will fixed pricing reshape surgery costs?

      AMA Committee on Economics and Quality in Medicine, Medical Student Section | Policy
    • How Project ECHO is fighting physician isolation and transforming medical education [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

What physicians can do to curb over-the-counter medicine misuse
4 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...