[March 31, 2016] Patients’ good intentions to get over a respiratory infection or an ear infection or to lose weight can go wildly wrong if the drug they’re taking damages the liver. New studies remind physicians that drugs their patients commonly use, such as antibiotics and herbal and dietary supplements, are infrequent causes of liver injury and failure.
Warnings about liver damage caused by taking too much acetaminophen (Tylenol) have been on over-the-counter packages for years, but other prescription drugs can also lead to severe liver injury no matter the dose or how long the person has taken it.
“Most people with drug-induced liver injury recover fully, but one-quarter of patients will die, need a liver transplant or have lingering liver problems six months after onset,” says Robert Fontana, M.D., liver specialist in the University of Michigan Hepatology Program. Fontana is an investigator in the national Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN) that’s tracking troubling trends and looking for biomarkers that may make some of us vulnerable to drug-induced liver damage.