The milliliter is continuing to replace the cubic centimeter in things pharmaceutical when it comes to medication orders written here in the year 2003. Pharmaceutical manufacturers continue to label concentrations and sizes in terms of milliliters, not cubic centimeters. However, stock container sizes are still frequently in WOMBAT. Go figure. Take, for example, valproic acid oral solution (an anticonvulsant medication, common trade name Depakene). It is available as a 250 mg/5 ml oral solution, but the stock container is "16 fl. oz. (1 pint)". Duh. I guess that the soft drink industry is ahead of the pharmaceutical industry on this one.
Today, when I receive an order for "2 tsp." of something, I immediately clarify the dose to be "10 ml". However, I fear that medical education is often clinging to WOMBAT units, despite the 1995 statement of the United States Pharmacopoeia that the metric system is the only valid system of measurement in medicine and pharmacy. Still publications such as the Handbook of Medical Therapeutics recommend that all prescriptions be written in the metric system only. Thank you, "Washington Manual"! I'm not sure about the rule in my current hospital employer, but when I worked at the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), ONLY the metric system was allowed. Metric doses of nitroglycerin have finally defeated the old WOMBAT doses. For many years, doses were written in metric units in just about everything except sublingual nitroglycerin tablets, which were habitually expressed in grains (one one hundred fiftieth of a grain). But thanks to the permeation of metric in the pharmaceutical industry, the correct strength of 0.4 mg took over. For years, increasing strengths of these tablets were expressed in fractions of a grain (1/200 gr., 1/150 gr., and 1/100 gr.), and people without mathematical facility often confused a fraction with a larger denominator as being a larger number. No more; almost all nitroglycerin orders are for 0.3 mg, 0.4 mg, or 0.6 mg. Then again, the whole thing is actually moot, because the lower strength and the higher strength are seldom used. Still, metric has won out. This is a pretty good example of how metric prevails in America, but it has been a slow process. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian J White" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2003 9:29 PM Subject: [USMA:26138] Re: mL vs. cc > cc is very common when talking motor displacement....not only in the > motorcycle world, but in the car world as well. > > My 1.9 liter Peugeot is actually a 1905cc as stated by the spec > sheet. Most, if not all cars, are like this as well. > Check your owner's manual and most likely you'll find the same. > > At 22:08 2003-06-18 -0400, Norman & Nancy Werling wrote: > >I offer a slight change in topic from the message to which I am replying. > > > >I'm sure that during the times I was away from the list discussion has > >occurred about millilitres versus the continued use of the term cubic > >centimetres. I feel that I have observed that people in the U.S., > >motorcyclists and medical, seem to find it hard to change their use from cc > >to mL. Does anyone else notice this? If so, I wonder if the same occurs in > >other English speaking countries who have changed or are trying to change. > > > >Norm > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: "Terry Simpson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Sent: Monday, June 16, 2003 09:17 > >Subject: [USMA:26111] Re: WV vending company > > > > > >Bill Potts wrote: > > >It's a synonym of an SI unit (cubic decimeter). > > >(To avoid acrimonious acronymious arguments, note that I'm > > >knowingly stretching the meaning of synonym, > > > >I know what you mean. The BIPM describes it as a 'special name' for a cubic > >decimetre. The term 'special name' is used widely in SI. > > > > >Even the most hard-line SI-advocating cook is not going to revert > > >from milliliters to cubic centimeters for liquid measure. > > >And so on. > > > >The duality of units does crop up from time to time. For example, our recent > >conversation about utilities revealed that Australia measures water in > >kilolitres and UK in cubic metres. Discussions about cars and motorbikes > >switch between cubic centimetres and litres, rather than ml and litres. > > > >See also: > >http://edinburghoutdoors.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=31 > > > > > > >With respect to persuading others of the simplicity of the modern > > >metric system (SI), I'm prepared to lie a little about "liter," rather > > >than confusing the issue. > > > >A fair point. >
