Guy's are right!
The 4 hour bit comes from studies done in the 70's when the Scottish
Poisons Unit and Guy's were doing the initial work on predicting liver
damage. Every Biochemistry Lab should have access to the advice from The
Poisons Information Centre as every Accident & Emergency dept was sent a
copy. If anyone is dissatisfied with the information given they should
contact the Director of the unit.
Ian Watson
In message <[log in to unmask]>, Rick Jones
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>On 31 Aug 00, at 7:39, Michael Colley wrote:
>
>> The Poisons unit are at it again!
>>
>> I was awakened from some much needed beauty sleep in the middle of the
>> night by a 'phone call from a medical SHO. A patient had been
>> admitted with a suspected paracetamol overdose. A paracetamol level
>> had been measured and was found to be undetectable.
>>
>> It was then discovered that it was only 3 hours since the OD had been
>> taken. The Guy's Poison Unit was phoned and the advice was given that
>> 3 hour levels were uninterpretable and a further sample should be
>> taken at 4 hours.
>>
>> The MLSO had rightly refused to do this without my approval, hence the
>> phone call to me.
>>
>> When will Guy's stop giving inappropriate (read: totally WRONG)
>> advice? When I take a couple of paracetamol for a headache I don't
>> expect it to take 4 hours for a therapeutic level to appear in my
>> blood and produce the desired effect.
>>
>> How do we get Guy's to use some common sense and stop misinforming
>> medical SHOs (who ought to use their common sense too) ?
>>
>> --
>> Michael Colley
>>
>> Dr. C. M. Colley
>> Dept. Chemical Pathology, Princess Margaret Hospital, Swindon SN1 4 JU
>> email: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>Dr Rick Jones
>Director of Chemical Pathology and Immunology
>Institute of Pathology
>Tel:(44)-113-233-5677
>Fax:(44)-113-233-5672
>http://www.acb.org.uk
>http://www.yichi.org.uk
>http://www.leeds.ac.uk/rdinfo //Winner - Best Health Database HC99
--
Dr Ian D Watson
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