Martin, do the UK package directions state the dose volume in milliliters only?
In the U.S., there is a greater tendency now to express the dose in milliliters, but it continues to be framed in the context of a teaspoonful. Why this is so is purely public relations, because the United States Pharmacopoiea no longer recognizes apothecary units (as of 1995). Paul T. Quoting Martin Vlietstra <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > The use of the word "teaspoon" for medicinces is hardly ever (never?) used > in the UK these days. Most medicines have a plastic 5 mL teaspoom or a > small measuring cup with 5 mL, 10 mL, 15 mL and 20 mL graduations. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Paul Armstrong" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> > Cc: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2007 6:11 AM > Subject: [USMA:38031] Re: Medical errors USA > > > > On Sat, Feb 24, 2007 at 09:29:28PM +1100, Pat Naughtin wrote: > > > Might I suggest that you look at some of these references extracted > > > from the 'Institute for Health Freedom' web page. > > > > > > Institute of Medicine Reports that Medication Errors Harm 1.5 Million > > > Patients Annually > > > > > > The Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports that medication errors harm at > > > least 1.5 million patients every year. This figure includes drug > > > errors in hospitals, nursing homes, and among Medicare outpatients. > > > But it is a conservative estimate because it does not account for drug > > > errors in doctors? offices or by patients themselves. > > > > To give you a bit of an idea of the issues it can cause: > > * Hospitals are metric. Almost exclusively (they interface with patients > > in imperial, but everything is written down in metric). > > * Pharmacies are metric > > * General practitioners are a mixed bag, largely not understanding > > metric (or refusing to acknowledge it's existence). > > > > In my own experiences, I've had a pediatrician try to describe 4ml as "a > > little bit less than a teaspoon". I asked if she really meant 4ml, to > > which she said yes, but wrote down 1tsp anyway on the prescription. When > > the pharmacist saw it, they asked how much my daughter weighed and then > > went ballistic as she was being prescribed an overdose. Oddly, after > > ensuring that I knew that the proper dose was 4ml, the pharmacist > > insisted in writing down 1tsp as that's what was on the prescription. :( > > > > It'd be really interesting to find out hard statistics on dosage errors > > based on using imperial in a metric world. > > > > Paul > > > > -- Paul Trusten, R.Ph. Public Relations Director U.S. Metric Association, Inc. Phone (432)528-7724 www.metric.org 3609 Caldera Boulevard, Apartment 122 Midland TX 79707-2872 USA mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.grandecom.net/~trusten
