Three hundred people have been admitted to the Landspítalinn emergency room in the last six years due to paracetemol toxicity, according to research published this week by biomedical scientist Ingibjörg Kjartansdóttir.
Vísir reports that paracetemol, which can be found in over-the-counter pain relievers like Panodil and Paratabs, is one of the most common causes of acute liver failure in the western world.
In Iceland, three percent of the 300 admitted with paracetemol toxicity experienced acute liver failure, and in one case this led to the patient’s death.
Research advisor Einar Björnsson told Vísir that the drug is safe when used as advised (no more than eight pills consumed per day), but problems occur when people take ten to fifteen pills per days, weeks and months at a time.
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