All medicines are in metric so why shouldn't liquid measurement devices
be used rather than teaspoons?
Stan Doore
----- Original Message -----
From: "James R. Frysinger" <[email protected]>
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 8:48 PM
Subject: [USMA:46418] Re: A spoonful of medicine
My copy arrived today. I scanned it and noticed the article but I have
not read it yet. Thanks for the suggestion, John.
Jim
John M. Steele wrote:
There is also a good article in the Jan/Feb issue of Metric Today (p. 7).
The FDA is recommending a "dosage delivery device" with all OTC liquid
medications. It also seeks to reduce errors by requiring the units in the
directions to agree with the units on the device. It is a good first
step, but it could go further and be more effective in reducing errors.
It would still allow multiple systems of units, they just have to agree.
Devices showinng measurements in multiple units are more complex and
therefore more confusing. They should take the next step of specifying
milliliters (symbol: mL) and ONLY milliliters.
There are links in the article to locate the FDA proposal. Interested
members should read it and send comments to the FDA.
.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* James R. Frysinger <[email protected]>
*To:* U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]>
*Sent:* Thu, January 14, 2010 10:35:23 AM
*Subject:* [USMA:46405] A spoonful of medicine
This LA Times article appeared in today's Tennessean (Nashville). It's
good to see this advice being published.
Jim
January 14, 2010
A spoonful of medicine may be too much, or not enough
By Amina Khan
LOS ANGELES TIMES
"Heaping" teaspoon or "level"? That's the nail-biting dilemma that usually
confronts amateur boulangeries as they mix baking soda or salt into their
cake batter.
In medicine, though, the unreliability of your average spoon — and by
average spoon, we mean a tool more commonly used to stir sugar into
coffee — can create far more serious problems.
In a study in the Jan. 5 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine,
researchers asked student patients at the Cornell University health clinic
to pour out 5 milliliters of cold medicine into different-size kitchen
spoons. The researchers found that participants expressed confidence in
their measuring abilities, and yet "underdosed by 8.4 percent when using
the medium-size spoon and overdosed by 11.6 percent when using the larger
spoon."
That may sound minimal, but consider someone who's making that same
mistake three to five times a day for a seven-day regimen. That can add
up. Overdosing can mean nasty and troublesome side effects. Underdosing —
on an antibiotic, for example — can lead to drug-resistant bacteria,
ultimately rendering the medication ineffective.
The lesson? Use a proper device — a measuring cap, a syringe or a dosing
spoon — to make that medicine go down.
And parents, before you pour any liquid into your kid's spoon (accurate or
not), make sure you have the proper dose for your child's age and weight.
Source:
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100114/FEATURES04/1140313/A+spoonful+of+medicine+may+be+too+much++or+not+enough
-- James R. Frysinger
632 Stony Point Mountain Road
Doyle, TN 38559-3030
(C) 931.212.0267
(H) 931.657.3107
(F) 931.657.3108
--
James R. Frysinger
632 Stony Point Mountain Road
Doyle, TN 38559-3030
(C) 931.212.0267
(H) 931.657.3107
(F) 931.657.3108
