Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorney Blog
Have you engaged in conduct totally out of character that led to your criminal charges? Did you take acetaminophen prior to or near the time of the incident leading to your arrest? If so, you may have a defense and /or mitigating circumstances to raise in your case to get your case dropped or your charges reduced.
Paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, is a widely used drug used primarily to treat fever and mild to moderate pain. It is generically available in the United States under the trade names Tylenol and Panadol. It is also present in Acet, Excedrin, Triaminic and possibly other medications. Despite its wide use, recent scientific studies have indicated acetaminophen may cause or contribute to certain criminal behaviors, especially those crimes involving violence or aggression.
The first study, reported in the publication Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience in September 2016, examined the effects of acetaminophen on empathy. There, researchers from the National Institutes of Health and The Ohio State University studied the effects of acetaminophen on empathy in undergraduate students. Empathy is the ability to recognize, process and respond to others’ emotional states. Empathic functions have been linked with numerous cognitive and affective processes. Importantly, impaired empathy has been linked to aggression and criminal behavior in society. Continue reading