Why You Should Look For An Alternative To You Aches and Pains

Definitely not the best piece of publicity for the makers and sellers of acetaminophen (other brand names, Tylenol(R), Acephen(R), and others) especially on top of the news breaking of the cover-up they attempted in regards to tainted product...

It seems that the US government is using a major side-effect to acetaminophen to exterminate the invasive brown tree snake not native to the island.

It turns out that the brown tree snake hangs out in the rain forest canopy, and apparently suffers the same side-effect to acetaminophen as humans do, liver failure.

For a healthy adult, the maximum daily dosage of acetaminophen is 4000 mg daily, which I think is still a very dangerous dose, especially taken over time.  In fact, many health organizations that provide medications such as the VA are trimming back their maximum allowable dosages to 3000 mg daily.

So here is what the US Department of Agriculture is planning to do:  Take a bunch of frozen mice, fill them with acetaminophen, and then drop them upon the rain forest canopy.  The idea is that the invasive brown tree snake will then eat the mice, thus leading them to liver failure and death.

So the moral of the story is be careful of what acetaminophen you are taken.  It is often hidden in cough and cold as well as over the counter sleep medications...and if you use it for aches and pains, you might want to consider an alternative.