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Rebecca Voelker
JAMA contributor

JAMA. 1998;280:1393.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Even low doses of over-the-counter ibuprofen can cause liver damage in patients with hepatitis C, according to a recent study. As a result, patients with the joint pain that often accompanies the disease should take low doses of acetaminophen instead.

"Many physicians don't want to prescribe [acetaminophen] because it has a reputation for causing liver damage," said Thomas Riley III, MD, director of the liver transplant program at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center of Penn State Geisinger Health System. But as long as acetaminophen is prescribed in low doses, Riley called it "definitely the best treatment." He said patients with hepatitis C could safely take about 2 g of acetaminophen per day to relieve joint pain.

In a report published in the September issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology, Riley and his colleagues described three patients with chronic hepatitis C who experienced ibuprofen-induced hepatotoxicity. They . . . [Full Text of this Article]