Acetaminophen: Gateway to Crack

Writing in Sunday's USA Today, Dr. Marc Siegel offers a cautionary tale about the dangers of offering "harmless" drugs over the counter; namely, the nation's raging Tylenol problem:

Perhaps the most abused over-the-counter drugs of all, Tylenol and aspirin, respectively cause thousands of cases of liver damage and bleeding ulcers every year, partly because a physician isn't involved in regulating their use. When these drugs first came on the market, the extent of their side effects wasn't known.

A campaign to restrict them now would fail, but their patterns of use - and abuse - can be telling when considering whether to make other drugs available over the counter.

Siegel is worked up over efforts to make cholesterol drugs and Plan B (the morning-after pill) available over the counter. As Ronald Bailey explains, the Plan B issue is moral, not medical, but the FDA is working overtime to keep the drug out of easy reach.