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Change in Medicine Dose May Not Have Been Updated in the Pharmacy

Accidental Poisonings of Babies - Birth to 6 Months: How They Happen and What You Can Do to Prevent Them

Medicines are a leading cause of accidental poisonings in young children. When we think about this, older babies and toddlers who can scoot, crawl, walk, and/or climb come to mind. Older babies and toddlers are curious and explore their world by “mouthing” the items they find. If they see something that looks interesting, they often reach for it or climb to it. Therefore, it is important to keep medicines and other potentially toxic products up and away and out of the sight and reach of children.

Worth Repeating...NEVER Add Water to Powdered Medicine Yourself, Take It Back to the Pharmacy

There have been many cases where oral medicines were given out as a powder instead of being mixed with water into a liquid before leaving the pharmacy. Most of these cases involved antibiotics for children. Sometimes, water was not added to the powder, or not enough water was added. Although we have written about these types of error, we still get reports of these mistakes.

Double Trouble: Wakix and Lasix Sound Alike

Confusion between the medicines Wakix (pitolisant) and Lasix (furosemide) was reported. Wakix is used to treat adults with narcolepsy (sleep disorder) for excessive daytime sleepiness. Lasix is a diuretic (or “water pill”) which increases the flow of urine to rid the body of excess fluid and salt. Using an online secure messaging system, a man was asking his doctor about a change in his dose of “Wakix” and whether he should get blood tests drawn. The man was also taking Lasix, and the dose had been changed several times over the years. The man had made several spelling errors when typing messages to his doctor. The doctor assumed the man had made a spelling error when typing “Wakix” and was instead talking about Lasix. Further questioning revealed the man actually was asking about Wakix.