Janie Tyrrell, a Healthy Beginnings Consultant, wants to make pharmacists and parents aware of a potentially dangerous situation.
“There is a newer Vitamin D preparation available to purchase over the counter” says Janie. “It is called ‘Ddrops’ and is a very concentrated formulation. It is available in an adult dose of 1000IU per drop and in a children’s dose of 400 IU per drop. Many parents are purchasing this product for infant use.
Until recently, most of the other Vitamin D preparations available (such as D-visol) had 400 IU in one mL (usually one whole dropper full). We have been made aware of one situation in the community of a parent giving the infant one mL of the Ddrops which is about 35 drops or 14,000 IU. Fortunately, the infant had just a few doses and no negative health effects.”
To help prevent future overdoses, consider:
- Posting signs near the Ddrops display, alerting customers to the dosing instructions.
- Stocking Ddrops nearer the pharmacy so that you can counsel people as they pick up the product.
Originally published in the January 27, 2009, issue of The Link
