[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by kipperfan

I compared medicine to medicine, yes.

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

They are not equal.

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Need to check your definitions I think.

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Please explain

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Did you know that the active ingredient in cough syrup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dextromethorphan) is a very powerful dissociative very similar to ketamine? One is legal because it has a beneficial side effect that we haven't found a good substitute for. The other is illegal. Both drugs are in the same class and have very similar power levels.

The line that has been drawn is very arbitrary. There are some very powerful non-prescription drugs out there, with the potential to mess you up as much or moreso than even some illegal drugs.

This story makes me wonder how many people work on powerful prescription meds like xanax, etc and how much those really mess people up. I've tried addoral which they give people for ADD and that stuff is pretty powerful.

A lot of people think drugs are black and white. Prescription drugs are safe. Non-prescription drugs aren't that powerful. Illegal drugs are bad. All three of those statements are far from the truth. You can't really generalize about drugs. Each drug has a history of why it is available over the counter, prescribe-able, or illegal. Not all these reasons make sense.

I suspect a lot of issues around drugs will become big debates in the next 100 years as people are able to educate themselves and not just take pro or anti-drug propaganda to heart. We see it already with the dangerousness of alcohol vs weed debate. The dangers of certain over the counter medications and prescription medications are going to be highlighted now that people can share their experiences so easily these days.

From 2001 to 2010, annual acetaminophen-related deaths amounted to about twice the number attributed to all other over-the-counter pain relievers combined, according to the poison control data.

In 2010, only 15 deaths were reported for the entire class of pain relievers, both prescription and over-the-counter, that includes ibuprofen, data from the CDC shows.

That same year, 321 people died from acetaminophen toxicity, according to CDC data. More than half – 166 – died from accidental overdoses. The rest overdosed deliberately or their intent was unclear. For the decade 2001 through 2010, the data shows, 1,567 people died from inadvertently taking too much of the drug.

Acetaminophen overdose sends as many as 78,000 Americans to the emergency room annually and results in 33,000 hospitalizations a year, federal data shows. Acetaminophen is also the nation’s leading cause of acute liver failure, according to data from an ongoing study funded by the National Institutes for Health.

...

In 1977, an expert panel convened by the FDA issued urgently worded advice, saying it was “obligatory” to put a warning on the drug’s label that it could cause “severe liver damage.” After much debate, the FDA added the warning 32 years later. The panel’s recommendation was part of a broader review to set safety rules for acetaminophen, which is still not finished.

...

Regulators in other developed countries, from Great Britain to Switzerland to New Zealand, have limited how much acetaminophen consumers can buy at one time or required it to be sold only by pharmacies. The FDA has placed no such limits on the drug in the U.S. Instead, it has continued to debate basic safety questions, such as what the maximum recommended daily dose should be.

Safety Delay
In the 1970s, the Food and Drug Administration appointed an expert panel to review the safety and efficacy of over-the-counter pain relievers, including acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. The panel delivered their recommendations on April 5, 1977. At the time, the FDA estimated it would issue final regulations before the end of 1978. The agency has still not completed its work.

For its part, McNeil has taken steps to protect consumers, most notably by helping to fund the development of an antidote to acetaminophen poisoning that has saved many lives.

http://www.propublica.org/article/ty...ly-as-directed