liquid medication

Dosage

• only metric-based dosing with milliliters should be used
• mL is the only acceptable abbreviation for milliliter
• medications should be dosed to the nearest 0.1, 0.5, or 1 mL;
  • they should not be dosed to the nearest hundredth
  • leading zeros [eg. 0.5] should be used
  • trailing zeros after whole numbers [eg. 5.0] should not be used
• the frequency of administration should be clear
  • use daily rather than QD
• pediatricians should explain milliliter-based dosing to families when they prescribe liquid medicines
• oral syringes better than cups for measuring liquid medications (~5-fold fewer dosing errors)

More general terms

• oral agent