Having various concentrations of pediatric liquid acetaminophen medications has the disadvantage in that parents may give their child excessive doses. The CHPA (Consumer Healthcare Products Association) has announced plans by makers of OTC (over-the-counter) medications to have just one concentration.

During this transition period, which will start in the middle of this year, caregivers and parents may continue using currently available products, which have labeling and dosing instructions.

When the transition is over, the only available concentration will be 160mg/5mL for children up to 12 years of age. Current concentrated infant drops will no longer be on the market.

CHPA President and CEO Scott Melville, said:

“CHPA member companies are voluntarily making this conversion to one concentration to help make it easier for parents and caregivers to appropriately use single-ingredient liquid acetaminophen. We are committed to providing parents and caregivers with the tools and information they need to help give their children the right amount of these medicines.”

CHPA says it is liaising closely with its members to make sure healthcare professionals have the necessary information required to help answer any questions parents might ask regarding the change. OTC makers will also work closely during the transition with retailers to make sure the higher concentration infant drops are taken off the shelves.

There will be a short period when both concentrations of liquid products will be available side-by-side in retail stores and medicine cabinets.

It is important when you buy a medication to carefully read the label and concentration, especially when a doctor has given dosing instructions.

The following will also be added to make sure accurate dosing is achieved:

  • Medications will have syringes so that dosing may be more accurate
  • Dosing cups will be offered for medications aimed at children between 2 and 12

When a child has pain or fever, parents and caregivers tend to give them acetaminophen in the USA.

Acetaminophen overdosing can be serious and life-threatening and happens much more frequently than people realize. Overdosing can result from not reading the instructions properly, not measuring how much you have poured out carefully enough, or giving a child some medicine without realizing somebody else has just done the same.

Some dosing devices may be poorly marked. Parents may use household spoons rather than the measuring cups or syringes included in the packet.

A recent study found that even the cups that come with the packaging are no guarantee for accurate measurement – 70% of parents were giving their child 6mL of a liquid rather than the recommended 5mL.

A parent may be frustrated that the medication did not work properly and give the child a stronger dose, causing accidental overdose.

If an adult leaves a medication bottle open, the child may pick it up and gulp it down.

Acetaminophen overdosing does not only occur with children. Over 70,000 emergency visits per year occur in the USA because of acetaminophen overdose (all ages).

Daniel Budnitz, M.D., said:

“About 70 percent are for self-harm attempts, and 13 percent to 14 percent are kids getting into products. The other 16 percent are the adolescents and adults that generally fall into two groups: the younger adults that are misusing over-the-counter products because they are trying to get better pain control and don’t understand the risks, and the older adults that are making some errors using the opioid combination products.”

Source: CHPA

Written by Christian Nordqvist