Patient Weight Should Be Included on All Medication Prescriptions

Medication prescriptions for both children and adults often require the patient's current weight to determine a safe and effective dose. Medication orders in the inpatient setting typically require a patient weight be recorded prior to order verification. However, in the ambulatory setting a very different standard exists; weights are not required on prescriptions and are rarely provided by practitioners. Without this information, the community pharmacist must either ask the caregiver, who may not know an accurate weight, or simply assume that the prescriber used a current and accurate weight and calculated the dose correctly. Standard doses are prescribed for most adult prescriptions, which makes it possible for the pharmacist to identify a dosing error. Without a current patient weight, the pharmacist is not able to provide the same level of patient care to pediatric patients or adults whose prescriptions require weight-based doses. The Pediatric Pharmacy Association recommends that patient weight, recorded in kilograms, be required on all medication prescriptions in both the inpatient and outpatient settings.