Just for reference, Paracetamol is British English for Acetaminophen. It's not so much that it harms the liver when used as directed, but that overdoses of it destroy the liver -- if you take more than eight of the standard dosage pills, in 24 hours (including any extra you get from medications that have it as an ingredient) you are risking your life. There was at least one case of death from an overdose in the UK, which is part of why the whole EU now requires it (and lots of other things) be sold in blister-packs with relatively few pills to a box. (Very annoying when I'm over there visiting my daughter -- annoying to her, too, she has us bring American OTC medications with us whenever we go.)
Thank you. Didn't know the two were the same. I figure at some point these over-the-counter meds will become hard to get without a prescription here too one day. This is standard. Someone abuses a medication and the government steps in to "save us."
Years ago, when my Dad had a cold, he would buy cough medicine with codeine over the counter at the drugstore. He said it was the only thing that relieved his cough. But thanks to people misusing it to relax or get a buzz, the government stepped in, called codeine a narcotic and severely restricted it, even with a prescription. That's probably what they are going to do with opioids too. In fact, it's already started.
