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The U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration is asking healthcare providers to educate patients and caregivers about how to use pain medicines containing acetaminophen safely and instruct parents on the correct weight-based dose for their children.

Acetaminophen toxicity is a leading cause of acute liver failure, resulting in an estimated 400 deaths in this country each year, according to the FDA. Many of these events are happening because patients are unknowingly taking too much of the drug, the FDA states.

Patients might not be aware they are in danger if they exceed the maximum recommended dose, or that three or more alcoholic drinks a day exacerbates the risk, the FDA states. Also, they might not realize how much acetaminophen they are consuming if they take more than one product containing this drug. Acetaminophen is in as many as 600 over-the-counter and prescription medications.

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