That has to be an old and forgotten recipe. In pharmacy, the only place I ever saw something listed in minims was in the pharmacy calculations book I used as a student. A few years ago, there were still 1 mL size syringes we use to draw up volumes of medication less than 1 mL, that actually had two scales, one in mL, one in minims. But, thankfully, the minim scale has been dropped from these syringes. In 30 years as a pharmacist, I have *never* seen an actual medication order calling for a volume of liquid in minims. WOMBAT as our nation may be, the minim has no use in pharmacy in the U.S.
There are 16.23 minims to 1 mL, so 20 minims are a little more than 1 mL. On old, old prescriptions, the physician used the apothecary symbol for one fluid dram (consisting of 60 minims) to indicate, as we were (incorrectly!) taught, one teaspoonful. At the same time, we were taught that one teaspoonful equals 5 mL (as one will see on a great deal of U.S. drug packaging today). I am happy to see that, on this packaging, the reference to the "teaspoonful" is steadily being displaced in favor of the milliliter, and, on some packaging, the concentration of over-the-counter products is (AT LAST!) being stated in milligrams per milliliter or milligrams per 5 mL dose. With all the standards of practice being promulgated today, I am still waiting for the one that bans any reference to the teaspoonful in medicine, nursing, and pharmacy. This has not happened yet in the U.S., but rest assured I am keeping up the pressure. the Institute for Safe Medication Practices agrees with me, and one day very soon, will press for the change. Until then, you will still have oral liquid medication being labeled with teaspoonful dosing. Paul T. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pierre Abbat" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 21:50 Subject: [USMA:36537] Someone still measures in minims > http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=42946 > > phma > >
