Describe the pharmacological effects of paracetamol. (40% of marks)
Outline its toxic effects and their management. (60% of marks)
This question was generally well answered with narrow variance; very few candidates discussed factors predisposing to hepato-toxicity or renal toxicity. Discussion of pharmacokinetics only gained marks when relevant to toxicity
To be fair, "discuss the pharmacological effects" is a fairly unambiguous pharmacodynamics question.
Graham, Garry G., et al. "The modern pharmacology of paracetamol: therapeutic actions, mechanism of action, metabolism, toxicity and recent pharmacological findings." Inflammopharmacology 21.3 (2013): 201-232.
Jefferies, Sarah, Manoj Saxena, and Paul Young. "Paracetamol in critical illness: a review." Critical Care and Resuscitation 14.1 (2012): 74-80.
Prescott, L. F. "Kinetics and metabolism of paracetamol and phenacetin." British journal of clinical pharmacology 10.S2 (1980): 291S-298S.