Safely Sidestep Medication Mishaps When is a teaspoon not really
a teaspoon? When it comes to pouring out doses of liquid
medications like cough and cold syrups, you may want to pass on
the kitchen spoon in favor of a more exact measuring device.
According to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine,
participants poured 8 percent less medicine than prescribed into
a medium-sized spoon and 12 percent too much into a large spoon.
The tests were conducted in a well-lit room during the day and
not when the probability for error is greatest--in the middle of
the night during a rush to calm a crying child. Heidi Handler,
MD, a family practitioner on staff at Our Lady of Lourdes
Medical Center, said people often reach for the closest spoon in
the drawer to measure liquid medications. However, there is no
standard kitchen spoon, and most likely the incorrect dosage
will be dispensed. "Giving too little of the prescribed dose can
make the medicine ineffective," said Dr. Handler. "Ingesting
more than the prescribed d