Does BWMA propose a solution (I can't open their document; it "crashes" my version of Word insisting something be loaded off the master disk, then can't find it). I'm wondering what they do when doses are less than 1 grain, or blood tests below 1 grain per pint.
--- On Sun, 10/9/11, Michael GLASS <m.gl...@optusnet.com.au> wrote: From: Michael GLASS <m.gl...@optusnet.com.au> Subject: [USMA:51205] Damned Decimals? To: "U.S. Metric Association" <usma@colostate.edu> Date: Sunday, October 9, 2011, 12:22 AM I was reading the November 2010 edition of "The Yardstick" the Journal of the British Weights and Measures Association , no. 43. See http://www.bwmaonline.com/ An article in this issue highlighted the problem caused by the use of decimals in prescriptions. They can result in patients receiving 10 or even 100 times the dose of the medicine prescribed. Here are some of the accounts quoted in the article: * Building a safer NHS for patients "Errors in prescribing for children frequently arise because of poor handwriting, misinterpretation of decimal points and calculation errors. Misplaced decimal points can result in 10- or 100-fold dosing errors. Despite widespread awareness of the risk, decimal point errors involving potent druge, notably digoxin and poiates, continue to occur. These can be fatal." * Confusion between the si unit for litre and the number 1. The Greek symbol for micro is often misread as m (milli) particularly if the handwriting is poor. (University of Nottingham) * A four month old baby killed because a doctor's receptionist made out the baby's prescription as a dosage of 5 ml twice a day instead of 0.5ml.(Report in the Daily Mail, 30 January 2010) * An emergency Asthma Care Pack recalled because of a misprint of the dosage of IV Salbutamol as 250 milligrams instead of 250 micrograms. Administering the incorrect dose could result in serious and possibly fatal consequences for some patients. (Asthma UK, 16 May 2007) * Following the death of a 2-week old baby who was given a dose of digoxin of 0.8mg instead of 0.08mg, the coroner said: "I feel very strongly that in calculating drugs it would be much simpler to use small denominations when one can deal in full numbers." I believe that the coroner was right. Decimals should not be used. Medicine should be manipulated with whole numbers. Perhaps micrograms could be used for all medicines. What do others think? Best wishes, Michael GlassIt contained an article which condemned the
