"In the 1940s, acetaminophen was revived as an alternative to and a less toxic metabolite of the compounded drugs acetanilide and phenacetin, which had been associated with blood cell disorders, organ injuries, and cancers, and subsequently banned from the market. Since its revival in the 1940s, acetaminophen has been mass-marketed initially as a safe anti-fever medication for children and then as a safe anti-fever and anti-pain medication."
"Acetaminophen moved relatively unexamined from the laboratory to mass manufacturing across the globe, initially formulated from coal tar but now synthesized from chemicals derived from crude oil. The global market for acetaminophen has grown to more than $10 billion annually. Today, more than one-fourth of the U. S. population takes acetaminophen on a regular basis, and total U.S. consumption is around 30 billion doses annually. How does this synthesized chemical work biologically in the human body? Nobody knows."
Acetaminophen is a synthetic analgesic and antipyretic first synthesized in 1887 by reduction of p-nitrophenol with tin in glacial acetic acid. Early clinical trials in 1893 were discontinued for severe side effects. The drug was revived in the 1940s as a less toxic metabolite of acetanilide and phenacetin after those compounds were linked to blood disorders, organ injuries, and cancers and removed from the market. Acetaminophen was mass-marketed as a safe fever and pain remedy for children and adults. Manufacturing shifted from coal tar sources to crude oil–derived chemicals. Global sales exceed $10 billion, with around 30 billion U.S. doses consumed annually. The precise biological mechanism remains unknown, though hypotheses include cyclo-oxygenase inhibition and interactions with serotonin or cannabinoid pathways; its anti-inflammatory action is minimal.
Read at Psychology Today
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