Acetaminophen is, IIRC, prescription only in Australia. Thirty years ago, perhaps it made sense for it to be OTC, because in the U.S. there were only two OTC pain relievers, aspirin and acetaminophen, and there's a need to have two in case someone can't take one of 'em for some reason or another. Now there are at least two other alternatives, naproxen sodium (Aleve) and ibuprofen (Advil), that don't have the toxicity problems that acetaminophen does, so maybe acetaminophen should be taken off OTC status.