1 Maimonides Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Brooklyn 19, N.Y.
Accidental poisoning in infancy and childhood is often preventable. The thirteenth edition of Pediatrics by Holt, McIntosh, and Barnett points out:
". . . of particular importance in salicylate poisoning is the high incidence of therapeutic over-dosage which in all instances is probably avoidable. When aspirin is recommended, the exact dose and duration of therapy should be specified, and parents should be emphatically advised not to exceed the amount prescribed. . . ."
Such advice and caution must be directed not only to parents but also to those responsible for published material of physicians who would advise other physicians in the use of acetylsalicylic acid or any other medication.