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Frank E. Manson
West Point, Pa

JAMA. 1989;261(23):3408.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

I strongly endorse the view of Hoffman et al¹ that "orders including terms such as 'amps,' 'pills,' 'vials,' or 'tab' without further specification should neither be written by physicians nor accepted by nurses. More precise doses of a solution of given concentration must be stated." However, the authors do not go quite far enough. Hoffman et al state in case 1 that the patient "was treated with... normal saline." However, "a normal solution is one having a concentration equivalent to a gram-equivalent of solute per liter."² Thus, a normal solution of sodium chloride contains 58.45 g/L. This is hardly the 9 g/L meant by the author as "normal saline." It would be nice to see the latter term dropped from the medical literature and replaced with "0.9% sodium chloride solution." . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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