Repeatedly taking marginally too much paracetamol (acetaminophen, Tylenol) over time can cause a dangerous overdose that is hard to detect and can lead to death, because patients usually don't report an overdose when they visit the hospital, rather that they feel unwell. Clinicians need to be able to detect these cases rapidly so that they can provide prompt and effective treatment, as these patients are in greater danger compared with those who have taken a single overdose.
People experiencing pain who repeatedly take slightly more paracetamol than they should are in danger of suffering a so-called "staggered overdose". According to Dr. Kenneth Simpson's recent research project published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology:
"They haven't taken the sort of single-moment, one-off massive overdoses taken by people who try to commit suicide, but over time the damage builds up, and the effect can be fatal."
Doctors usually assess overdose patients on arrival at the hospital by taking blood samples that establish the level of paracetamol taken. This provides valuable information in cases where patients have taken a single overdose, however, in cases of staggered overdoses, the patients' blood may display low levels of paracetamol, despite being at a high risk of liver failure and death.
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