A 19-year-old student was admitted to a hospital after being found unconscious in her room in the university halls of residence. Her room mate told the paramedics that she had recently failed her end-of-year exams and had ended a long-term relationship earlier that week. She was not known to have any medical history and took occasional painkillers for a knee injury. She was found with several empty packets of paracetamol around her. A suicide note was discovered next to her.
Physical examination: The student was drowsy but responsive. She admitted to taking thirty 500 mg paracetamol tablets and eight 30 mg codeine phosphate tablets with a bottle of wine approximately four hours earlier. Observations: Temperature 36.4°C, heart rate 80/min, blood pressure 110/70 mmHg, respiratory rate 12/min, SaO 2 96 percent on room air. Laboratory findings: What are the consequences of a paracetamol…
