CHPA, Congress propose dose of clarity for kids

HUNTINGTON, N.Y. — Concerns over kids’ medicines and proper dosing is still a prominent issue. Children between the ages of 2 years and 12 years are inaccurately dosed up to 73% of the time, according to a report published by the American Medical Association. This increases emergency room visits in two-thirds of the cases.


In January, N.Y. Rep. Steve Israel, D-Huntington, sparked debate over proper pediatric dosing when he announced plans to introduce new legislation to homogenize medicine cups and other dosage devices commonly used to give medicine to children. Israel cited a study published in the December 2010 Journal of the American Medical Association, which found that 99% of medicine cups and dosage devices were flawed, as the impetus behind the bill. 


However, the need for such a bill may be moot as the over-the-counter industry is already initiating guidelines that will standardize dosing directions and units of measuring that dose by year’s end. 


The Consumer Healthcare Products Association has approved voluntary guidelines, including the uniform use of tables to communicate dosing guidelines as opposed to only text, and the use of milliliters as the preferred unit for dosing with the abbreviation to read “mL.”