GREAT NECK, NY---- Have you ever heard someone complaining of a headache say, “I’ll take a couple of Tylenols. What harm can it do?” Unfortunately, mixing prescription drugs with over-the-counter (OTC) medications could prove to be a big mistake. Various combinations of medications may result in dangerous drug interactions, possibly causing organ damage or even death.

For example, many people take an acetaminophen like Tylenol for common headaches and simple pain relief. For inflammation, like a sore back, a toothache or gum pain, those same sufferers might take a non-steroidal drug like Advil or Motrin. The pills may cure the pain, but they also could worsen underlying stomach problems and cause other problems, such as liver or kidney damage, if the appropriate dosage is exceeded.

Couple that headache with cold or flu symptoms, and that same person may reach for a cold symptom reliever, like Tamiflu, which also contains the same drug, acetaminophen. People taking both the Tylenol and Tamiflu run the risk of overdosing on acetaminophen. If the user is also taking prescribed medications in combination with OTC drugs, the interactions could be extremely harmful in some cases.

 For example, a patient on a prescribed heart medication who wants to dry up a runny nose may take an OTC drug like Sudafed, which is pseudoephedrine, a decongestant drug that in combination with the heart medication may worsen underlying conditions like high blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmia, stroke, hypertension and atrial fibrillation.

To learn more about dangerous drug interactions, tune in to “Medical Update” this Saturday, Oct. 24, at 11 a.m. Gisele Wolf-Klein, MD, director of geriatric education for the North Shore-LIJ Health System, and Michele Graci, a pharmacist at North Shore University Hospital, will discuss the importance of understanding adverse drug reactions, mixing what are thought to be harmless over-the-counter medicines with prescription drugs, the dangers in self-medicating and inadvertent "double-dosing," the dangerous side effects from many drugs, and the problems involved when prescription drugs are marketed directly to the public. Medical Update is broadcast on WLNY-TV, which can be seen on Channel 10 on Long Island Cablevision and Verizon FiOs TV, and on Channel 55 on Time Warner Cable in the City of New York, DirecTV and DishTV. 

Media Contact: Elaine Wohl 516-465-2615