U.S. Poison Centers Log 220,160 Liver Injuries in 24 Years as Acetaminophen Leads 400% Rise
Updated
Updated · SciTechDaily · Aug 21
U.S. Poison Centers Log 220,160 Liver Injuries in 24 Years as Acetaminophen Leads 400% Rise
3 articles · Updated · SciTechDaily · Aug 21
Summary
220,160 xenobiotic-related liver injury cases were reported to U.S. poison centers from 2000 to 2024, with population-adjusted rates climbing from 10.9 to 52.9 cases per million, UVA Health researchers found.
More than 80% of those cases required inpatient care, and medications drove most reports, with acetaminophen cited most often and suspected suicide the leading reason for exposure in both sexes.
FDA limits on acetaminophen in combination prescription drugs cut exposures tied to those products by 60% to 85%, but harmful exposures involving acetaminophen alone kept rising across the study period.
Alcohol ranked a distant second and increased in both sexes during the COVID-19 pandemic, while stimulant, street-drug, supplement and environmental-toxin cases also rose but remained far less common.