So, my friend who had a spinal fusion years ago has problems with the vertebrae flaring up now and then. She uses Vicodin to help the pain. She goes to the pharmacy and there is a note on her scrip which says that they are not making the stuff anymore because, as it contains a lot of Tylenol, those who abuse the drug are croaking from liver damage caused by the acetominophen used to enhance the vico’s potency.
Well tough shit! No wonder the war on drugs in this country is such a flop when individual responsibility for one’s own choices is not even expected.
What gives with this shit? Who makes these ridiculous decisions and what can be done about it? I am hoping that this will sort of blow over, they will find a reasonable substitute for the acetominophen, or that, long shot, someone will realize how stupid this is.
Spending about 15 seconds on Google (I googled “Vicodin” which took me to AbbVie’s Vicodin page) it says they lowered the amount of APAP to 300mg from 500mg. Your friend will probably need a new script.
You’re pissed off at who now? The people who abuse Vicodin? The people who can’t sell you the Vicodin because it’s no longer made? The people who write prescriptions for Vicodin? The government body that regulated the original Vicodin out of production? The people who invented acetaminophen? The people who have yet to invent something to replace acetaminophen?
I mean, lots of people involved with drugs here. Not sure who is the “druggist.”
It’s “across the pond” for pharmacist. But the OP is from Vermont.
I think bookaholic is pissed off that their friend cannot use a prescription that they need because some people abuse the drug for recreation purposes, and get harmed from the accompanying acetaminophen.
If that is the case, I agree. Let the fucking druggies die if they want to abuse medication. I shouldn’t have limit to my access and responsible use because someone else could hurt themselves.
And furthermore, fuck having acetaminophen combined with morphine derivatives when you could just as easily get the synergy effects from popping a fucking tylenol with your dose of morphine derivative. Synergy my ass, you just want to prevent people from getting high. So potentially shutting down someone’s liver is worth making sure they don’t get high. Fuck the war on drugs and, well, fuck anyone who thinks differently. 
This. Said friend should have been informed that she needed to call her doctor for an updated prescription.
I recently filled a script for Tylenol/Codeine (post-dental extraction) so it hasn’t been banned. The formula may have changed, I didn’t bother to check.
Yes, geniuses. I am pissed at the people who make these decisions based on what I don’t know.
What possible help is it to ban the legitimate use of a drug based on protecting the assholes who abuse it?
Thank you, AnthonyElite for having a brain.
Also, getting mad at that pharmacist is like yelling at the cashier because the milk price just went up.
They have to deal with it all day long but in the entire chain, they probably take the most abuse from customers and have the least potential to change anything.
The combo hasn’t been banned. It just has to have 300 mg or less of acetaminophen in it.
She can still have the drug; she just needs her doc to write her a new scrip for a dosage combo that has less acetaminophen.
Plus this isn’t just protecting addicts; it also protects innocent consumers who may not be aware of exactly how many products have acetaminophen in them. If she had a bad pain day along with a very awful cold, she could damage her liver inadvertently.
In all honesty, I hate that acetaminophen is in so many things. I use decongestants and antihistamines and for whatever reason it seems to be much harder to find those without an added painkiller.
Tell me about it. I refuse to use acetaminophen in anything, and it’s getting to be a pain to shop around it.
Yup. Plus add just a bit of alcohol consumption around the same time and your dosage needed to cause liver damage/failure goes way down. I once had bronchitis while touring a wine region and had to buy OTC cold meds real damned carefully.
The presence of acetominophen in Vicodin has nothing to do with protecting or “punishing” abusers of painkillers.
Acetominophen enhances the effects of hydrocodone (the other constituent of Vicodin). That’s why it’s there.
Acetominophen, while generally safe, causes a lot of preventable liver damage and failure due to overdosage. It’s about time steps were taken to limit people’s exposure. If that means some temporary inconvenience in getting prescriptions refilled, it’s still a worthwhile step.
Then there’s the millions of people like my sister who take Tylenol PM just to fall asleep. I’ve told her (and many others) to just take Benadryl (or something similar), explain to them that Benadryl is the PM part of Tylenol PM. If you just want to fall asleep, why tax your liver for no reason.
Then, on top of that, one night, not only could she not sleep, she also had a rash…took two more Benadryls for that. Totally safe, but she had no idea that she doubled up on the PM part of the Tylenol part of the Tylenol PM.
Maybe drug makers should be forced to standardize how they label their active ingredients. I always find myself hunting for them all over the package.
How about a rectangle, right on the front, filled with yellow, bold black writing, all very plain with a list of either just the active ingredients or the amounts per dose (or per pill or per something) as well.
To many people just take things to take them, it’d be easier if they grabbed the Nyquil and noticed that, wow, this has APAP in it, I’ve been taking that all day long, maybe I shouldn’t take this just to fall asleep.
As of Jan 1 this year all acetaminophen products had to be no more than 325mg. We had to change all the preprinted prescriptions in our office.
I think I’ve only ever heard/seen this word used by Americans.
If by “across the pond” you mean British, then no. We say “chemist”. “druggist” is an Americanism, but maybe regional.
I know that anecdote ≠ data, but for me, it’s the acetaminophen component of Tylenol PM that helps me fall asleep. I discovered this after a hospital visit where the doctor gave me straight benadryl, which had no effect whatsoever – but later that night I developed a headache and asked for Tylenol, which put me out like a light. But my body’s always been very strange in the way it reacts to drugs.