PAINKILLER SPLAIN

(AP) — Government experts say prescription drugs like Vicodin and Percocet that combine a popular painkiller with stronger narcotics should be eliminated because of their role in deadly overdoses.

A Food and Drug Administration panel on Tuesday voted 20-17 that prescription drugs that combine acetaminophen with other painkilling ingredients should be pulled off the market.

Despite years of educational campaigns and other federal actions, acetaminophen remains the leading cause of liver failure in the U.S., according to the FDA.

The FDA is not required to follow the advice of its panels, though it usually does. I'm sure the creative forces behind 'House' and 'Nurse Jackie' want to keep their characters as grounded in reality as possible when it comes to Toobworld. So if the FDA does pull Vicodin and Percocet off the market, both characters will have to deal with the issue in some future episode.

Just sayin', is all.....

BCnU!