Drug-Induced Liver Injury Research

Prescriptions and other medications can sometimes damage the liver. Drug-induced liver injury affects more than one million people in the United States each year. You may have no symptoms until your liver is damaged and you have developed jaundice, a yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes.

Mount Sinai is involved in a major effort to conduct research to discover ways to predict, diagnose, and prevent drug-induced liver injury. Mount Sinai had previously been involved in a National Institutes of Health-sponsored multi-center Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network and continues to do research in this area.

Herbal and dietary supplements are an increasing cause of liver damage. Over the last 20 years, more people have started taking supplements like turmeric, curcumin, and ashwagandha. Because these are widely available online, more people use them than ever before. With that rise, doctors have seen more cases where these supplements cause liver injury. Since these are not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the contents may not be accurately reflected in the label.

At Mount Sinai, we continue to work on finding new ways to help prevent unexpected liver problems due to the use of prescription and non-prescription drugs.