Is Aspirin toxic?

I just read an article that said that Aspirin in poisonous in all but very low doses.  It likely caused or contributed to the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918.  I don't know if this is true but it is something to think about.

Upon reading the accounts of the epidemic it seems that most of the deaths were caused by a virulent pneumonia that was especially devastating to those who depressed their system with analgesics, the most common being aspirin. Aspirin was the first of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, others not becoming available until 1955 when Tylenol was first marketed. They are the most commonly used drugs on the market, sold both with and without prescriptions. For Bayer and the entire pharmaceutical industry, they are the absolute foundation stones of their industry and yet they all routinely kill.

It has been discovered that that no particular dose of aspirin between 75 mg and 300 mg daily currently used in the treatment of heart ailments, is completely free of risk of causing intestinal bleeding. Even very low doses of aspirin reportedly caused gastric bleeding in volunteers. Some 10,000 episodes of bleeding occur in people aged 60 and over each year in England and Wales alone and it is estimated that around 90% of the 10,000 episodes could be associated with and directly ascribed to aspirin usage. Unfortunately the risk of hospitalisation and death is not the only problem caused by taking these types of drugs. Other studies have also indicated that the risk of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) while using NSAIDs is also quite substantial. One author suggested that the number of deaths could be similar to those that are evident with gastro-intestinal bleeding. If so, the numbers of deaths attributed to NSAIDs would increase dramatically from the already large figure of 16,500.

The 20 to 50 million deaths during 1918 have long been attributed to a virulent new virus but the NIAID has now clearly stated that common upper respiratory bacteria was responsible, not a new virus. There was no new deadly virus but there was something new in 1918 and that was toxic aspirin, being used in totally inappropriate, dangerous dosages. “… just before the 1918 death spike, aspirin was recommended in regimens now known to be potentially toxic and to cause pulmonary oedema and may therefore have contributed to overall pandemic mortality and several of its mysteries. Young adult mortality may be explained by willingness to use the new, recommended therapy and the presence of youth in regimented treatment settings (military).” Dr. Karen Starko
http://falsificationofhistory.co.uk/health/the-1918-so-called-spanish-flu-pandemic/