"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." ~ H.L. Mencken
Tylenol and the War on Drugs
"This is how you end up with an unnecessary liver toxin in your narcotic. The government figures it has a lower potential for abuse because you will be dissuaded from taking enough of it to "get high' by the potential for hepatotoxicity due to the added acetaminophen! The manufacturer quite naturally responds to the perverse incentives of the Drug Control Act by adding the acetaminophen to get a schedule III classification. This makes it less onerous for the prescribing physician, and easier for the patient, resulting in greater sales for the drug company."
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It gets worse -- a large percentage of people who use pain meds containing Tylenol do NOT do so under medical supervision. More and more doctors, physician's assistants and nurse practicioners have set themselves up as the keepers of our souls and refuse to prescribe effective pain relief for patients who have a "history" or a "potential" for "drug abuse" -- which isn't even a medical term but a political one. Predictably, this has given rise to a thriving black market in pain meds, the most common of which are Vicodin and Percoset, another medicine laced with poison. Drug warriors are evil incarnate, but at least their motives are clear. What's not clear is why the medical profession has allowed itself to become the state's executioners.