Phenacetin Powder (8)

Phenacetin, and products containing  Phenacetin powder , have been shown in an animal model to have the side effect and after-effect of carcinogenics. In humans, many case reports have implicated products containing  phenacetin powder  in urothelial neoplasms, especially urothelial carcinoma of the renal pelvis .  Phenacetin UK is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as carcinogenic to humans. In one prospective series, phenacetin was associated with an increased risk of death due to urologic or renal diseases, death due to cancers, and death due to cardiovascular diseases . In addition, people with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency may experience acute hemolysis, or dissolution of blood cells, while taking this drug. Acute hemolysis is possible in the case of patients who develop an IgM response to Phenacetin powder  leading to immune complexes that bind to erythrocytes in blood. The erythrocytes are then lysed when the complexes activate the complement system.

Chronic use of phenacetin powder  is known to lead to analgesic nephropathy characterized by renal papillary necrosis. This is a condition which results in destruction of some or all of the renal papillae in the kidneys. It is believed that the metabolite p-phenetidine is at least partly responsible for these effects. One notable death that can possibly be attributed to the use of this drug was that of the aviation pioneer Howard Hughes. He had been using Phenacetin powder  extensively for the treatment of chronic pain; it was stated during his autopsy that Phenacetin UK  use may have been the cause of his kidney failure.

Phenacetin is one of the first commercially produced synthetic pharmaceuticals and the first non-opioid analgesic; it was widely distributed in APC cold tablets since it was frequently mixed with aspirin and caffeine. This compound is representative of a class of acetanilide-based analogues known to have analgesic and antipathetic properties. Other compounds within this class are paracetamol (acetaminophen), lidocaine and highly potent opioid analgesic acetylfentanyl. Like the parent compound acetanilide, phenacetin is metabolized into paracetamol in the human body. Phenacetin was first withdrawn from market use in Canada in 1978 as it was found to be carcinogenic and cause kidney damage, with most countries withdrawing its use in over-the-counter medications in the subsequent years. Drugs utilizing Phenacetin powder  were reformulated with paracetamol, which was found to have similar pain and fever reducing properties but is non-carcinogenic. Currently Phenacetin UK   has no legal use, though is used illegally in some countries as a cutting agent for cocaine.