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> Like many other physicians, pharmacists, and nurses, Jenny Lucca found alerts to be a constant nuisance. Even giving Tylenol to a feverish child every four ho

> Like many other physicians, pharmacists, and nurses, Jenny Lucca found alerts to be a constant nuisance. Even giving Tylenol to a feverish child every four hours triggered an alert that the dose was approaching the maximum allowed. You know, given what we know about the liver toxicity of acetaminophen/paracetamol at this point, not sure this is the best example of a spurious alert. There's a good argument that this is one of the more dangerous drugs OTC, in part due to the widespread impression that it's not very dangerous. It is interesting looking at the story in general as an example of alert fatigue, though, and the need to differentiate different types of alerts. Unlike some of the other comments I see here, I don't think this points to incompetence so much as human nature. It takes a fair amount of cognitive power to overcome the natural tendency to assume that when the alert was spurious yesterday, it's not spurious today. That power would be better spent elsewhere, and points to a failure of automation to truly lighten the load.

nucleardog 12y ago
Not "exceeding the maximum dose" just "approaching the maximum dose". "Hey, you're almost taking exactly the amount of this thing we say you can take. Watch out!" is pretty much the definition of a spurious alert to me. It's telling you that what you expect to happen is happening.
- geoelectric 12y ago
  Well, yeah, except pills up the amount in steps--it's not like turning a dial. So you'd want to warn before they can give another dose of medication that would take you over the line. Really depends on how far off the line the warning is. But either way, in this case I'm pretty sure Tylenol was stressed in the article because it was an example of an innocuous medication, which it really kind of isn't.
PhantomGremlin 12y ago
> given what we know about the liver toxicity of acetaminophen/paracetamol at this point, not sure this is the best example of a spurious alert Why is acetaminophen even in the picture? Isn't ibuprofen very similar in effect but much safer in an overdose?
- geoelectric 12y ago
  Acetaminophen isn't an NSAID, so has a somewhat different side effect profile. Can't speak for why it'd be favored in children, but NSAIDs do conflict with a number of medicines used in adults.

nucleardog 12y ago

Not "exceeding the maximum dose" just "approaching the maximum dose". "Hey, you're almost taking exactly the amount of this thing we say you can take. Watch out!" is pretty much the definition of a spurious alert to me. It's telling you that what you expect to happen is happening.

geoelectric 12y ago
Well, yeah, except pills up the amount in steps--it's not like turning a dial. So you'd want to warn before they can give another dose of medication that would take you over the line. Really depends on how far off the line the warning is. But either way, in this case I'm pretty sure Tylenol was stressed in the article because it was an example of an innocuous medication, which it really kind of isn't.

PhantomGremlin 12y ago

> given what we know about the liver toxicity of acetaminophen/paracetamol at this point, not sure this is the best example of a spurious alert Why is acetaminophen even in the picture? Isn't ibuprofen very similar in effect but much safer in an overdose?

geoelectric 12y ago
Acetaminophen isn't an NSAID, so has a somewhat different side effect profile. Can't speak for why it'd be favored in children, but NSAIDs do conflict with a number of medicines used in adults.