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Orange County Base Hospital Coordinators

No More Epinephrine Ratio Expressions

Posted on September 13, 2016February 22, 2021

As of May 2016, the ratio expression format for certain single-entity drug labels is no longer permitted.

As a result of this new development, labels for several single-entity drugs including epinephrine are required to include mass concentrations.  However, this change will not be made to labels for local anesthetics like lidocaine 1% and epinephrine-combination solutions.

This new epinephrine labeling display the mass concentration format that was  already previously in use for virtually every other medication.  Epinephrine 1:1000 injection is now labeled as 1 mg/mL, while epinephrine 1:10,000 injection is now labeled as 0.1 mg/mL.

epinephrine-label2

The new concentration notation is a welcome change for  prehospital and hospital personnel alike.

Certainly, this change will not prevent all medication errors, but it may tremendously help reduce their incidence

References:

  1. Say Goodbye to Confusing Ratio Expressions.  PDF.
    2016-paparella-epi-ratio-expressions
  2. Institute for Safe Medication Practices.  Acute medication safety alert newsletter, December 2015.
    https://www.ismp.org/Newsletters/acutecare/issue.aspx?id=1111.
    Accessed January 15, 2016
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