Answers To Tiana's Questions

[Guest guest]

2)A pharmacy receives an order for acetaminophen with codeine elixir (120 mg and

12 mg/5 mL) that reads:

Sig: 1 tbsp PO q6h p.r.n.

Disp: 4 oz

Each prescribed dose will contain:

[input] 1. 120 mg acetaminophen and 12 mg codeine.

[input] 2. 240 mg acetaminophen and 24 mg codeine.

[input] 3. 300 mg acetaminophen and 30 mg codeine.

[input] 4. 360 mg acetaminophen and 36 mg codeine.

The answer is 4. 360 mg acetaminophen and 36 mg codeine.

This type of question comes up often in the course of a day's work. A

technician need to know their standard and metric measurements and be able to

convert them back and forth quickly.

The part of this order that should stand out is the " 1 tablespoon. " One

tablespoonful is equal to 3 teaspoonsful. One teaspoon is equal to 5 mL.

Looking at the question again you can see that the dose in tablespoonsful and

the drug is in mls. Since

1 tablespoonful = 3 teaspoonsful 1 teaspoonful = 5ml

multiply the strength of the medicine by 3

120 mg & 12 mg x 3 = 360 mg & 36 mg or

.. 5 ml . 15 ml

-- 360 mg & 36 mg

. 1 tablespoonful

Sincerely,

Lynch-Brunozzi, CPhT Textpert

P.S. My apologies if this comes across as unreadable. I know how tempermental

these boards are when it comes to fractions and their placement within the text.

To love what you do and feel that

it matters - how could anything

be more fun? -- Graham

.. . . for my heart rejoiced in

all my labour . . . Ecclesiastes

2:10