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Posted on 08/14/2026 9:44:19 PM PDT by Red Badger
Calls to poison centers involving liver injuries caused by medications, supplements, alcohol and other substances jumped nearly 400% between 2000 and 2024, according to a new study from UVA Health published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Researchers led by UVA's Christopher P. Holstege, MD, looked at liver damage caused by "xenobiotics," foreign substances not naturally found in the human body. This category includes drugs, food additives, alcohol and environmental pollutants.
More than 80% of the liver injuries required inpatient care, with the majority of cases stemming from medications. Acetaminophen was the most frequently implicated substance.
"Xenobiotic-induced liver injuries reported to U.S. poison centers have steadily increased," said Holstege, director of UVA Health's Blue Ridge Poison Center. "The public should be aware of potential liver injury with various substances that are readily available to consumers."
Liver injury causes
Holstege and his colleagues identified a total of 220,160 cases of xenobiotic liver injury over the 24 years reviewed. Population-adjusted exposure rates skyrocketed from 10.9 per million people to 52.9 per million people.
The researchers found that exposures from acetaminophen-containing drugs decreased significantly—by 60%–85%—after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration imposed a cap on the amount of acetaminophen allowed in combination prescription products. By contrast, potentially harmful exposures to acetaminophen by itself increased steadily over the 24-year period, indicating that regulatory action successfully reduced liver damage from combination products, while acetaminophen alone remains a leading contributor to liver injuries reported to poison centers.
Females had higher rates of acetaminophen-associated liver injury than males, and suspected suicide was the most common reason for exposure in both sexes, the study found.
"Liver injuries reported to poison centers have increased substantially over the past 25 years, with acetaminophen emerging as a growing contributor," Holstege said. "Our study findings highlight the important role poison centers play in toxico-surveillance."
Alcohol was a distant second among the top causes of liver injuries. This was seen more frequently in men than women, but injuries increased in both sexes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The researchers also identified increases in liver injuries caused by stimulants and street drugs, herbal and dietary supplements and environmental toxins, but these were far less common than injuries caused by acetaminophen and alcohol.
"Medications should always be taken as directed by clinicians and according to pharmaceutical label instructions," Holstege said. "Care must also be taken when consuming emerging substances that are unregulated. More studies are warranted to determine if specific populations are more at risk of liver injury."
Publication details
Eleanor Blair Towers et al, Xenobiotic-Induced Liver Injury in the United States: A 25-Year Retrospective Analysis of National Poison Data System, Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology (2026).
DOI: 10.1016/j.cgh.2026.07.032 linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrie … ii/S1542356526005732
Journal information: Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology
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Are you a “senior”? If so Tylenol (acetaminophen) is generally considered the safest pain reliever for seniors. (As long as you stay below 3,000 mg per day to prevent liver damage). Aleve (and other NSAID’s) have their own “issues” like kidney damage and stomach/intestinal bleeding.
https://betterhealthwhileaging.net/safest-otc-painkiller-aging-risks-of-nsaids/
https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/acetaminophen-nsaids-over-the-counter-pain-relievers
I am a senior, and thanks for that info.. :)
If these injuries are caused largely by the patient, shouldn’t there be something being done about it by now?
Try eating turmeric. It’s a natural blood thinner and anti-inflammatory.
If these injuries are caused largely by the patient, shouldn’t there be something being done about it by now? Might have make certain common drugs prescription only, except this places somewhat of a hardship on those who use them in a proper manner.
Some food for thought, a few billion reasons why it’s OTC, per AI and sourced from the NIH...
“In the United States, total annual sales for all acetaminophen (paracetamol) products generate roughly $4.0 billion to $4.7 billion per year. This total encompasses both name-brand options like Tylenol and numerous store-brand or generic equivalents sold over-the-counter and in prescription combinations.”
” I use it occasionally due to Advil (ibuprofen), a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drug problems with blood thinners.”
Me too. I have to look up drug interactions all the time.
“Try eating turmeric. It’s a natural blood thinner and anti-inflammatory.
So is garlic but doctors don’t want to talk about natural at all. My blood thinner info says stay away from Turmeric.
I even pay close attention to things like non-sugar sweeteners. Aspartame and saccharine got health warnings very early. Now long-term daily use erythritol is of concern for cardiac health. I now use a combination of allulose and monk fruit, sometimes alternating with stevia.
I asked my hematologist about erythritol safety and she asked scientists at UC Davis who studying it! I was very impressed she did that. Their study is underway and no final results yet, but the general recommendation was to not use it daily for years. I had asked my GP and she deferred to my hematologist. I passed the info onto my GP and she appreciated it, too.
If you are interested in scientific discovery stories, look up how allulose was first discovered and how the process was developed to extract it. Amazing.
Too much and a small bump can result in you bleeding out.
Low dose aspirin works better and the ‘side effects’ are beneficial.
My old doctor, now retired, told me much the same thing: switch to aspirin, especially since it doesn’t jack my blood pressure like newer NSAIDs do.
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