Aspirin Substitutes
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Transportation & Substances · CPSC Code 1930
Down 15% over 5 years
The verdict
Aspirin Substitutes carry a danger score of 37/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 9,642 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 15% over the last five years.
- 37/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 9,642
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 5.1%
- end in hospital admission
- 0-4
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1930 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 37/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for aspirin substitutes - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume9,642 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)5.1%
- Fatality rate0.03%
- 5-year trend-15%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Aspirin Substitutes (CPSC product code 1930, in the Transportation & Substances category) generate an estimated 9,642 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 192,833 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 37/100 for this category (low risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are declining by about 15% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2010 (11,895 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2020 (5,798 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for aspirin substitutes is poisoning to the all parts body, accounting for approximately 192,727 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by foreign body to the face (80 cases). The 0-4 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 192,834 cases over the NEISS window, and males appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 5.1% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer, and a small fraction (0.03%) result in fatality.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 3 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how aspirin substitutes fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 102,967 | 89,867 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| All Parts Body | Poisoning | |
| Face | Foreign Body | |
| Internal | Aspiration | |
| Hand | Burn, Scald |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
2YOF, C/O DRUG OVERDOSE, PARENTS SAY PT MAY HAVE INGESTED LIQUID IBUPROFEN. DX:ACCEIDENTAL DRUG INGESTION
4YOM PRESENTS AFTER TAKING 20 TABLETS OF 160 MG ACETAMINOPHEN AFTER THE CHILD FOUND THE BOTTLE OF ACETAMINOPHEN IN HIS MOTHER'S PURSE DX: ACETAMINOPHEN OVERDOSE, ACETAMINOPHEN INGESTION
20MOM WAS FOUND WITH AN OPEN BOTTLE OF REGULAR STRENGTH *** UNKNOWN HOW MANY WERE INGESTED HAS AN ACETAMINOPHEN LEVEL OF 10 DX: ACCIDENTAL ACETAMINOPHEN INGESTION
14MOF PT FOUND BY MOM WITH AN OPEN BOTTLE OF *** NEXT TO PT, WHICH WAS ON A TV SHELF; 500MG TABS DX: ACCIDENTAL DRUG INGESTION
20MOM GOT INTO AN OPEN BOTTLE OF CHILDREN'S *** AND INGESTED UNKNOWN AMOUNT, ACETAMINOPHEN LEVEL OF 20 DX: ACCIDENTAL ACETAMINOPHEN OVERDOSE
18MOF BROUGHT HER MOM AN OPEN IBUPROFEN BOTTLE, WITH WHITE POWDER ON HER MOUTH, UNSURE HOW MUCH SHE ATE DX: ACCIDENTAL POISONING BY IBUPROFEN
3YOF ACCIDENTALLY DRANK 3/4 BOTTLE OF CHILDRENS *** ABOUT 108ML. DX INGESTION
2YOF POSSIBLY INGESTED *** 500MG FROM BOTTLE UNSURE HOW MANY SHE INGESTED. MOM FOUND HER WITH BOTTLE DX: DRUG INGESTION
2YOF INGESTED LIQUID *** ABOUT 1/2 BOTTLE DX: ACCIDENTAL PARACETAMOL POISONING
4 YOM DRANK ABOUT 120ML OF *** AND UNKNOWN AMOUNT OF ***. DX ACCIDENTAL INGESTION
3 YOF PRESENTS WITH INGESTION AND VOMITING S/P INGESTION OF UNKNOWN AMOUNT OF *** WHILE WITH SIBLING AT HOME IN THE BATHROOM WITH MOM AND *** SPILLED ALL OVER THE FLOOR AND PATIENT ATE AN UNKNOWN AMOUNT. DX: ACCIDENTAL DRUG INGESTION
18 MOF PRESENTS S/P INGESTION OF UNKNOWN AMOUNT OF *** PILLS WHILE IN BATHROOM WITH MOM AT HOME AND *** PILLS WERE SCATTERED ON THE FLOOR AND PATIENT INGESTED SOME. DX: ACCIDENTAL DRUG INGESTION
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
My son accidentally eats Advil at home. Due to the medicine does not have a childproof cap. It has an Arthritis cap.
I took care of a child that took [REDACTED] out of a store bought bottle that is intended to be child proof. I noted that when I opened and closed it that it had to be turned fairly tight to engage the child proof mechanism. And I notice that is is easy to open it even if the child proof mechanism is engaged. I have enclosed the bottle. Try opening and closing it with various amounts of force. There was not enough ingested in this case to cause harm but we hope to prevent future injury.
My 3-year-old son got ahold of the Target brand "dye free infants' acetaminophen concentrated drops" in the 1 fl oz size container and opened it. He pulled the dropper out of the lid without having to unscrew it first. He drank some of the medicine and spilled the rest on himself. After taking him to the emergency room, they tested his blood and determined that he did not drink enough of it to cause any concerns.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to aspirin substitutes on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are aspirin substitutes?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, aspirin substitutes have a danger score of 37/100 (low risk). An estimated 9,642 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from aspirin substitutes?
The most common injury is poisoning to the all parts body, accounting for approximately 192,727 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from aspirin substitutes increasing or decreasing?
Down 15% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for aspirin substitutes injuries?
The 0-4 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 192,834 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by aspirin substitutes?
Of all ER visits involving aspirin substitutes, approximately 5.1% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (94.9%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with aspirin substitutes?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Transportation & Substances
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 37/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 0-4 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
