A dose of safety to protect children
Each year, thousands of children are given the wrong doses of medications, often because of a simple miscalculation involving the child’s weight. Sometimes, such errors result in hospitalization and, in rare cases, death.
Now, the U.S. Pharmacopeia, a not-for-profit organization that promotes standards for medicines and medical technologies, has offered some advice for parents on how to prevent such errors. The proper doses of most medications are based on both a child’s age and weight in kilograms, but most parents know the child’s weight in pounds. Parents should know that dividing pounds by 2.2 will convert the figure into kilograms and should be sure to confirm that weight and the dosage with the doctor, according to the group’s new recommendations.
Other steps parents can take to avoid medication mishaps at home or in the hospital include:
* Keep up-to-date lists of any prescription and over-the-counter medications the child takes, along with dietary supplements. Become familiar with these medications and learn to recognize them by size, shape, color, smell and sight, which also can provide another level of assurance that the child is getting the proper medication, advises Diane Cousins, vice president of USP’s Center for the Advancement of Patient Safety. “If their child is old enough, parents can also teach them to use their senses as well.”
* Make sure the doctor is aware of any allergies and lists them on the medical chart. Youngsters with life-threatening allergies should wear a MedicAlert bracelet.
* Make sure to get written and verbal information about all prescriptions, including common side effects and those that should be reported to the doctor.
The advice accompanied an analysis, released last month, of 105,603 medication errors from 2001. The errors were reported by hospitals and health systems around the country to Medmarx, USP’s anonymous, national reporting database. Although the analysis included only a portion of the country’s medication errors, it offered valuable indications of why such errors occur. The analysis found 3,361 involved children from newborn to age 16, including 190 that resulted in patient injury. Two of the errors resulted in death.
