After nearly 2 weeks in a neonatal intensive care unit, a newborn baby was discharged to home with a prescription for liquid phenobarbital (20 mg per 5 mL) twice a day to prevent seizures. Before leaving the hospital, the baby’s doctor reviewed the prescription with the parents. He made sure the parents knew the baby’s dose (6.5 mg) and how much of the liquid medicine to give the baby for each dose (1.6 mL).
Read Safety ArticleIn recent articles on ConsumerMedSafety.org— November/December 2019 and January/February 2020 —we described labeling problems with medical marijuana and how these can lead to errors. In this issue, we are going to focus on the growing concerns that some edible marijuana products may be appealing to children because they look like popular brands of candy found in stores.
Read Safety ArticleThe teenage years can be very awkward for young boys and girls. They may feel uncomfortable because their bodies are developing slower than some of the others kids their age. Or, they may be involved in sports and feel they need to increase their muscle mass or athletic performance. For these reasons, some teenagers resort to trying steroids, drugs that mimic the actions of the male sex hormone testosterone. Steroids promote cell growth, especially in the muscles. However, steroids also have very serious adverse effects that may cause permanent organ damage.
Read Safety ArticleMedications for children are frequently ordered by the "dropperful". There are several problems with these orders. First there is too much room for misinterpretation of what might constitute a dropperful. One individual might consider it to be a dropper filled to the upper calibration mark.
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