Found this in the paper today:
Accidental poisonings from the nation's most popular pain reliever seem to be rising, making acetaminophen the leading cause of acute liver failure.
Use it correctly and acetaminophen, best known by the Tylenol brand, lives up to its reputation as one of the safest painkillers. It's taken by about 100 million people a year, and liver damage occurs in only a small fraction of users.
But it's damage, often avoidable, that can kill or require a liver transplant.
The problem comes when people don't follow dosing instructions -- or unwittingly take too much, not realizing acetaminophen is in hundreds of products, from the over-the-counter remedies Theraflu and Excedrin to the prescription narcotics Vicodin and Percocet.
"The argument that it's the safest sort of has overruled the idea that people cannot take any amount they feel like," said Dr. William Lee of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Acetaminophen bottles recommend that adults take no more than 4,000 milligrams a day, or eight extra-strength pills.
Just a doubling of the maximum daily dose can be enough to kill, warns Dr. Anne Larson of the University of Washington Medical Center.
The Food and Drug Administration has long wrestled with the liver risk, warning two years ago that more than 56,000 emergency-room visits a year are because of acetaminophen overdoses and that 100 people die annually from unintentionally taking too much.
A study published this month by Drs. Larson and Lee has agency officials weighing whether to revisit the issue.
In a six-year span, researchers tracked 662 consecutive patients in acute liver failure who were treated at 22 transplant centers. (Acute liver failure is the most severe type, developing over days, unlike chronic liver failure that can simmer for years because of alcohol abuse or viral hepatitis.)
Almost half were acetaminophen-related. More remarkable was the steady increase: Acetaminophen was to blame for 28 percent of the liver poisonings in 1998, and jumped to 51 percent of cases in 2003.
That makes acetaminophen the most common cause of acute liver failure, the researchers report in the journal Hepatology.

Nearly half of the cases were related to unintentional overdoses of acetaminophen, which "isn't hard to do," Dr. Larson said.
Say you take Tylenol Cold & Flu Severe for the flu's aches and stuffiness -- 1,000 milligrams of acetaminophen, every six hours. A headache still nags so between doses you pop some Excedrin -- 500 mg more of acetaminophen. Switch to Nyquil Cold/Flu at bedtime, another 1,000 mg.
Maybe you already use arthritis-strength acetaminophen for sore joints -- average dose 1,300 mg.
Depending on how often they're taken, the total acetaminophen can add up fast.
That's the nonprescription realm. Surprisingly, 63 percent of unintentional overdoses involved narcotics like Vicodin and Percocet that contain from 325 mg to 750 mg of acetaminophen inside each pill.

Enjoy
PB

That's it, I'm switching to vicoprofen. Thanks for putting this up, PB.

Thanks for the info PB. I myself don't worry too much about it, but I do pay attention to my Acetaminophen intake. I am around 3 grams within a 24 hour time period usually. I don't take over the counter stuff hardly at all, and when I do its usually Motrin.
Funny thing is the Motrin tears my stomach up. I am more afraid of that than my APAP intake cause I know it can cause stomach bleeding. I get horrible stomach aches sometimes if I take 2 Motrin.
I do understand how easy it is to get to much Acetaminophen though. For example..my doc just scripted me Hydro 5/500 for a sinus infection.
Take 1-2 every 4-6 hours. Being in pain with and the Hydro strength not being that strong of course I am taking two. Only 10 Milligrams of Hydro but 1,000 APAP..take that every 4 hours you could be in trouble.
My Pharmacist... who I trust more than my doctor told me to try and spread the doses out 6 hours to be safe. He said 6 hours is a good amount of time to give your Liver time to work the APAP out.
The best way to be safe is to be aware of what you are ingesting. All meds.. over the counter and prescription. Read what is in it before you take it.

Hi PB
I saw that same article...makes you think before taking all those cold remedies if you are already taking tylenol and such. glad you passed that on...too much typing for me!!!
Thanks
Becky