June 30, 2015
Research has found that most parents tend to use spoons to administer medication to their children, which can be an inaccurate way of measuring a dose. Mixing up measurements leads to thousands of phone calls to poison control centers each year due to inadvertent overdosing. Consequently, the American Association of Pediatrics pediatric oral liquid administered medication by dosing in milliliters.
PMA has decided to adhere to this recommendation and now all oral prescriptions will be administered in milliliters.
In case you currently have a prescription dosed in teaspoons or tablespoons, here’s what you need to know:
5mL = 1 teaspoon
15mL = 1 tablespoon
Changing to this standard of measurement can only help to decrease confusion and decrease error in medication dosages with children.
Remember that a spoonful of medication may too much or too little, so ditch the spoon!
Dr. Richard Uluski