Also, John, the completion of the metrication of these dosage volumes involves making certain that the patient or the patient's caregiver gets a milliliter-scale measuring tube or spoon and is shown how to use it. But it wouldn't stop there. The U.S. needs a public service announcement campaign to spread the word about the metrication of oral liquids, explaining that teaspooons are unsafe and that they should use milliliters as shown by their pharmacist.
Paul ----- Original Message ----- From: John M. Steele To: U.S. Metric Association Sent: 31 January, 2011 05:39 Subject: [USMA:49711] Re: a non-metric U.S. can kill children Paul, I don't understand this from the article: "The boys father says he was diagnosed with an ear infection and given the wrong dosage by a 24-hour pharmacy, 2 teaspoons instead of 2 milligrams." If the dose printed was 2 tsp, it must have been a liquid medicine. It may have been a reporter error ( 2 mL??), but the dose should have been a volume in milliliters. If doctors, pharmacists, or vets (in the case of pet owners) believe the public can work concepts of weight based dosing or concentrations of liquid medicine, they are wrong. I help out at a conversion site, and there is endless confusion over the concepts. The doctor or pharmacist must reduce the dose to a patient-specific, volumetric dose for a liquid medicine; of course, they must work it correctly, too. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Paul Trusten <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, January 31, 2011 4:03:55 AM Subject: [USMA:49710] a non-metric U.S. can kill children The President The White House Washington, DC 29599 2011-01-31 Dear Mr. President, A few days ago, I wrote to you urging that the U.S. finally achieve its goal of changing over to the SI metric system of measurement for the economic and academic health of the nation. Sometimes, however, our country needs to change over to metric for health reasons, period. My subject line in this e-mail is no exaggeration. American children are often harmed, or even killed, because our citizens, along with our healthcare professionals, drag traditional units of measurement (such as the teaspoonful) from the society at large into the hospital or clinic. Too many times, we read of stories such as the one in the links below, where teaspoonsful and mililiters or milligrams get confused. Although the Institute for Safe Medication Practices reconnended in 2009 that only metric units be used in connection with prescriptions, the following continues to take place, and will continue to take place until we as a people use only one system of measurement (metric): http://www.theredheadedpharmacist.com/?p=2956 http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13923416 We need your leadership to help us "go metric" and save American lives. SIncerely, Paul Trusten, R.Ph. , Vice President and Public Relations Director U.S. Metric Association, Inc. www.metric.org [email protected] +1(432)528-8824
