The paracetamol challenge

[Holomon]

I got it in the neck earlier from Mrs H about this "Paracetamol challenge" that's been in the news, specifically The Guardian;

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... -challenge

Although everything medical is in a locked cabinet in our house (force of habit) and the children are probably too young to be exposed to this sort of thing anyway, I did spend some time looking into it and it appears to be a load of old horse poop anyway.
There's not a single reported case of someone actually being this stupid, and the mother of the dead child quoted was unrelated - she committed suicide in 2011.

So two things - keep the meds out of reach or locked up...and ignore slow news days.

[Plymtom]

There was a time when we had government information commercials on TV, it could be that with the media choices we all have these days such opportunities to instill a little common sense into the masses have be vastly diluted, from crossing the road, to not catching STDs, people somehow need to be made aware of things because unlike us, they don't want to think, be aware of dangers, let alone be prepared to cope with life's wild cards.

[Hamradioop]

The newspapers are so incestuous today as every one will repeat a story without fact checking.

Snopes view on this subject http://m.snopes.com/2015/05/26/paracetamol-challenge/

[Deeps]

This is the first I've heard of the 'challenge', it seems even 'natural selection' has evolved.

[ForgeCorvus]

Is it just me, or does this sentence make no sense?

Though the drug is deemed to be harmless, large quantities can cause serious side effects,

Surely its either harmless or its not?

Too much of anything is bad for you

[Crows]

Is it just me, or does this sentence make no sense?

Though the drug is deemed to be harmless, large quantities can cause serious side effects,

Surely its either harmless or its not?

Too much of anything is bad for you

Pretty sure it's called an oxymoron

[Selkie]

Is it just me, or does this sentence make no sense?

Though the drug is deemed to be harmless, large quantities can cause serious side effects,

Hmmm it can't be said that an over the counter drug like paracetamol is dangerous because people might start running about like headless chickens; in actuallity the sentence is guilty of an error of omission rather than making no sense, how about this:

Though the drug is deemed to be harmless if it is taken as per the instructions on the packaging or on the prescription of medically qualified personnel; however taking large quantities of the drug in one dose can have serious and potentially fatal side effects.

[CynicalSurvival]

The expression 'Darwin Awards' springs to mind