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Reading labels can be confusing. Parents and caregivers have agonized for years about how much medication to give a child to prevent overdosing or underdosing. Studies show children are given inaccurate doses of over-the-counter medicine more than 50% of the time. According to the American Association of Pediatrics, approximately 27,000 children in the U.S. under the age of 14 are treated annually for overdosage of over-the-counter acetaminophen alone. Underdosing is also a major issue because it prevents children from receiving the correct therapeutic benefits from OTC medications.
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Some of the reasons for inaccurate dosing include:
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Inconsistent measuring devices such as teaspoons and dosing cups are poor substitutes for accurate devices like a properly calibrated dosing spoon |
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Age-based dosing is extremely inaccurate for children in the mid and upper ranges of each group due to concerns about overdosing |
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Ordinary over-the-counter labels may lack adequate dosing instructions or do not have enough printable area to put exact weight dosing on the bottle for all applicable weights |
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*Voted winner “Over-the-Counter Drugs” category by consumers. |
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