FDA orders lower doses in prescription pain killers

The FDA has ordered the lowering of key ingredients found in Vicodin, Percocet and other prescription painkillers that have been linked to thousands of cases of liver damage

The Food and Drug Administration said it will cap the amount of acetaminophen in the drugs at 325 milligrams per capsule. Current products on the market contain doses of up to 700 milligrams.
Acetaminophen is a ubiquitous pain reliever found in Tylenol, Nyquil and thousands of other medicines used to treat headaches, fever and sore throats. The ingredient is also used at larger doses in prescription combination drugs that mix it with narcotic drugs like oxycodone.
Those products are not dangerous by themselves but can cause toxic overdoses when patients combine them with a second acetaminophen-containing drug like Tylenol.