A Tylenol liver damage lawsuit was filed by a woman who suffered liver failure allegedly due to the popular over-the-counter medication, joining numerous other lawsuits alleging the active ingredient in Tylenol is more dangerous than manufacturers stated.

In this Tylenol liver damage lawsuit, plaintiff Corrine Wangler alleges that in November 2011, she suffered acute liver failure, including massive necrosis after using Extra Strength Tylenol. “Necrosis” is a medical term for tissue death, which could be consistent with acetaminophen poisoning.

Many different drugs contain acetaminophen, making it easy to overdose without realizing it. For example, if a person takes over the counter pills for pain, allergies, or trouble sleeping, they might not realize that all of the drugs contain acetaminophen, leading to an accidental overdose. Another concern stems from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommendations to reduce the amount of acetaminophen in medications. According to the FDA, higher doses of acetaminophen found in some drugs increase the risk of liver damage, but produce no benefits.

Acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, breaks down through the action of the liver, what is known as “hepatic metabolism.” In this process, the liver breaks acetaminophen into smaller molecules to help get it out of the body. However, in this process, the smaller molecules, called secondary metabolites, may be more toxic than acetaminophen itself. Under normal circumstances, this isn’t a problem, since these secondary metabolites are either quickly passed from the body or broken down further.

However, with a larger-than-recommended dose or a person with a quirky liver metabolism, toxic secondary metabolites could build up and cause liver damage or even liver failure. Tylenol liver damage lawsuits allege that these risks are downplayed by drug manufacturers, and even at the prescribed dose, Tylenol and similar drugs can cause serious liver damage.

The Tylenol liver damage lawsuits have been grouped together into a type of coordinated legal action called a multidistrict litigation, or MDL. MDLs are similar to class action lawsuits, though MDLs are created from individual lawsuits while class action lawsuits start out as group lawsuits. In both MDLs and class action lawsuits, a group of plaintiffs allege that they have suffered similar harm at the hands of the same defendant under similar circumstances. Group lawsuits like the Tylenol liver damage lawsuit MDL are designed to help streamline the legal process by combining tens, hundreds, or even thousands, of individual lawsuits into a single legal process.

The Tylenol Liver Damage Lawsuit is Corrine Wangler v. McNeil-PPC Inc., et al., Case No. 6597, within the larger Tylenol Liver Damage MDL In Re: Tylenol (Acetaminophen) Marketing Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2436, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.