Wednesday September 15, 1999 - Question 12

Dr. Pedi calls your center for information regarding the dose of Drug X in pediatric patients.  She has 1 yo that required the medication.  The dose in her reference The Harriet Lane Handbook is 1 mg/kg q8h.  The pharmacist where she works told her that 1 mg/kg is three times what is listed in a book called “Pediatric Dosage Handbook 1997-98 edition” by Lexicomp.  You check Micromedex® and find no pediatric dose listed.  You have the same edition of the Pediatric Dosage Handbook but it lists a dose range of 0.25-1.5 mg/kg q8h for the medication.  Which statement is correct?

A. Doses listed in the Pediatric Dosage Handbook by Lexicomp are the FDA approved doses.

B. Doses listed in the Harriet Lane Handbook are the FDA approved doses.

C. While the doses in the Harriet Lane Handbook are not necessarily FDA approved, they are based upon rigorous clinical trials and should be considered “the standard”.
 
D. The doses listed in your 1997-98 Pediatric Dosage Handbook by Lexicomp differed from that of the pharmacist’s edition because of an error in the first printing of the 1997-98 edition that was corrected in later printings of the reference.

E. The pharmacist may be using a customized version of the Lexicomp reference developed specifically for the hospital where he works.
 

Discussion