Ace Pharmacy Calculations

You play a key role in preventing dosing and calculation mix-ups.

Ten-fold dosing errors. Watch for meds with similar-looking strengths...such as aripiprazole 2 and 20 mg, prednisone 5 and 50 mg, and morphine 10 and 100 mg. Selecting the wrong one can lead to over- or underdoses.

Stay especially alert for “trailing” zeros after a decimal point...or strengths that don’t have “leading” zeros. For instance, an Rx for “5.0 mg” can easily be confused with “50 mg”...or “.5 mg” with “5 mg.”