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Comment by Alex3917 | Hacker News Reader

> Many aren't super safe, and there is a fair bit of research and information dissemination required to make sure doctors and patients know the costs and benefits.

Most patients/doctors don't really care if what they're taking is safe or not. The vast majority of Americans don't even know what the active ingredient in Tylenol is.

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They should be more careful about Tylenol. Paracetamol, aka acetaminophen is the number 1 cause of liver failure in the US. I was shocked to learn that considering how much damage drinking causes.

But you don't see many article pointing out what sure looks like a big public health problem. I have the impression I see a lot more articles about crisis PR based on the Tylenol poisonings.

The vast majority of Americans don't know/care what the active ingredient in Tylenol is because its effects have been extensively studied and tested and there's strong evidence consuming it over long periods of time has minimal to no harmful health effects.

The same cannot be said of marijuana.

Read the sibling comment. Smoke all the cannabis you want, too much THC hasn’t killed anyone yet. The same cannot be said for acetaminophen, and it is in a lot of stuff that might be taken along with Tylenol, so people should care.

As another commentor mentioned, Tylenol isn’t the best example here: acetaminophen is fairly dangerous and it’s not at all clear that it should be as easily available as it is.

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