NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Johnson & Johnson is reducing the maximum daily dose of its Extra Strength Tylenol pain reliever in the United States to lower risk of accidental overdose.
The company’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division says the change affects Extra Strength Tylenol sold in the U.S.
Labels on the U.S. bottles will now list the maximum daily dose as six pills, or a total of 3,000 milligrams, down from eight pills a day or 4,000 milligrams.
Get breaking National news
The change does not affect Canada.
Shelley Kohut, director of communications and public relations at Johnson & Johnson Inc., said the labelling instructions will remain the same in Canada.
Kohut said the maximum daily dose for Extra Strength Tylenol in Canada is eight pills or 4,000 milligrams per day.
She noted that Health Canada reviewed the label standard for acetaminophen products in 2009.
Acetaminophen is the active ingredient in Tylenol and numerous other prescription and nonprescription pain relievers, including Percocet, Vicodin, NyQuil and some Sudafed. People taking multiple products at once don’t always realize how much acetaminophen they are ingesting.
Excessive use of acetaminophen can cause liver damage and even fatal overdoses.
-With files from The Canadian Press
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.