Safemedicate

  In a story that further highlights the critical importance of developing and assessing the competencies required for safe medication practice associated with bodyweight and body surface area dosage problems - Pharmacy Times recently reported a prescriber error for a three-month-old patient. What was the background of this case?  Writing for the news outlet, Michael J. Gaunt, PharmD – a senior director of error reporting programs at the Horsham, Pennsylvania-based Institute for Safe Medication Practices – stated that an oral liquid medication (Propranolol) had been prescribed for a 7.2kg infant with a fast-growing benign vascular tumour, infantile hemangioma.  According to the Pharmacy Times article, the pharmacy reached out to the physician’s office to seek clarity about the medication order.  On arrival to pick up the prescription, the parent was dispensed 20 mg/5 mL (4 mg/mL) of Propranolol. The following instructions accompanied the medication order: “Ad...

  Pfizer has said that according to new data, three doses of its COVID-19 vaccine showed 80% effectiveness against symptomatic omicron infection in children aged from six months to under five years old. The development, which will be of interest to many medical professionals with an interest in making safe prescribing calculations, is thought to potentially pave the way for younger children to be given doses of the vaccine as soon as the early summer.  Pfizer did sound a note of caution about the finding however, stating that the calculation had been based on the diagnosis of just 10 cases among research participants by the end of April. According to the study rules, a minimum of 21 cases are required to formally ascertain effectiveness.  Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Pfizer, commented: “Our COVID-19 vaccine has been studied in thousands of children and adolescents, and we are pleased that our formulation for the youngest children… ...