Hospitals get patients from outside of their country all the time. They should be prepared for alternate names of a medication, especially a very common over-the-counter one like acetaminophen, that can easily kill you if overdosed. In fact, overdosing is so easy that the number of packets that, in the UK, you can buy in a day from any one place is restricted.
I am Canadian. Y’all know what Tylenol is, right? Acetaminophen.
When I moved to the UK and needed to be hospitalized for a procedure, I told them I used acetaminophen (paracetamol here in the UK – exactly same drug, dosed OTC in precisely the same way) for occasional pain unrelated to my migraines that they were treating. I showed them a bottle of Tylenol EZ tablets my mom sent me, that are coated like Advils are, to make them easier to swallow. (I have trouble swallowing chalky tablets.)
The nurse looked at the bottle, saw the word “acetaminophen”, and asked what it was. I told her it was the same drug as paracetamol.
“But it doesn’t SAY THAT on the bottle!”
“Yes, because it’s a CANADIAN format of the same drug.”
(We repeat this argument for 6-7 minutes with no understanding on her part.)
Next time, I’ll ask if she passed her chemistry exams in nursing school because “APAP” is the universal chemical name for this drug. Pharmacists, nurses and doctors must know it in order to pass their various tests in professional development, and to be able to legally call themselves pharmacists, nurses and doctors.
Imagine if a Canadian or American patient comes into the A&E (emergency room) in a British hospital for a sprained ankle. He says “I’ve just been taking Tylenol 800mg for it.”
Doc: “OK, I’m going to give you _____mg of paracetamol.”
The unwitting doctor has given the patient a fatal overdose.
*Patient flatlines after it boxes his liver.*
Maybe next time I should just say “I’m on C8H9NO2“. Or “APAP,” if they’re really dense.
