Warning over risk from mini overdoses of paracetamol

People who regularly take slightly too much paracetamol over a period of time to relieve pain could be at a higher risk of dying than those who take a one-off overdose of the drug, a study has revealed.

The research, published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, showed that doctors usually take a blood sample to detect how much paracetamol is present when an overdose patient arrives at hospital. But if someone has taken too much of the drug over a prolonged space of time, only low levels of paracetamol could be detected, even though they could still be at risk of organ failure or death.