Seems the child was given oral Diazepam, but all news outlets seem to assume that the oral Diazepam was the pure drug. No, it is highly dilute.
>”Barrister John Nolan told the Circuit Civil Court the child was prescribed doses of 2.5mg by a hospital doctor following a surgical procedure but the pharmacist had marked the bottle “2.6mls twice a day”, which the unsuspecting parents administered.”
Oral diazepam typically contains 2 to 10mg of Diazepam per 5ml (1 teaspoon). i.e. 0.04% to 0.2% Diazepam. Seems that parents were instructed to give half a teaspoon twice a day.
Assuming the highest concentration, 6.2 ml x twice a day, that is a dose of 25 mg of Diazepam rather than 2.5mg (Pharmacies mistakes are usually factor of 10 errors).
However, if the oral Diazepam was 2 mg per 5 ml, then the child was not given an overdose.
That said, it is hard for me to understand that happened. The articles I found are garbled, the journalists appear to think the liquid Diazepam is the pure drug, otherwise why say “One milligram is approximately equal to 0.001 of a millilitre in a weight to liquid comparison.”? Journalists seem to think the child got 12500 mg of the drug rather than 2.5 mg.
That said, the dose is approx. 10x what Drs prescribes and pharmacy errors are usually factor of 10 errors (decimal in the wrong place).
That’ll keep him stocked with diazepam for a while. Go big kiddo.
3 comments
Seems low.
Seems the child was given oral Diazepam, but all news outlets seem to assume that the oral Diazepam was the pure drug. No, it is highly dilute.
>”Barrister John Nolan told the Circuit Civil Court the child was prescribed doses of 2.5mg by a hospital doctor following a surgical procedure but the pharmacist had marked the bottle “2.6mls twice a day”, which the unsuspecting parents administered.”
Oral diazepam typically contains 2 to 10mg of Diazepam per 5ml (1 teaspoon). i.e. 0.04% to 0.2% Diazepam. Seems that parents were instructed to give half a teaspoon twice a day.
Assuming the highest concentration, 6.2 ml x twice a day, that is a dose of 25 mg of Diazepam rather than 2.5mg (Pharmacies mistakes are usually factor of 10 errors).
However, if the oral Diazepam was 2 mg per 5 ml, then the child was not given an overdose.
That said, it is hard for me to understand that happened. The articles I found are garbled, the journalists appear to think the liquid Diazepam is the pure drug, otherwise why say “One milligram is approximately equal to 0.001 of a millilitre in a weight to liquid comparison.”? Journalists seem to think the child got 12500 mg of the drug rather than 2.5 mg.
That said, the dose is approx. 10x what Drs prescribes and pharmacy errors are usually factor of 10 errors (decimal in the wrong place).
That’ll keep him stocked with diazepam for a while. Go big kiddo.