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From: dyer@spdcc.UUCP (Steve Dyer)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Aspirin vs. Codeine
Message-ID: <440@spdcc.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 22-Oct-86 01:00:12 EDT
Article-I.D.: spdcc.440
Posted: Wed Oct 22 01:00:12 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 22-Oct-86 22:43:37 EDT
References: <1823@bu-cs.bu-cs.BU.EDU> <529@cci632.UUCP> <21708@rochester.ARPA> <372@uwmacc.UUCP> <435@spdcc.UUCP> <3955@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Reply-To: dyer@spdcc.UUCP (Steve Dyer)
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Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
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In article <435@spdcc.UUCP> dyer@spdcc.UUCP (Steve Dyer) writes:
>... but giving a 200 lb. man 15 mg. of codeine 4 times a day after
>having his wisdom teeth out is just plain stupid; the dose is much
>too low.
>>Be careful with those sweeping generalisations.  I am not a 200
>>pound man (will you settle for a muscular 74 kilograms of Elf? :-)),
>>but I recently had a wisdom tooth extracted.  The dentist prescribed
>>acetaminophen #3 in case of pain, yet I never had to use it.  In
>>my case, any dose would have been too high.

Strictly speaking, which I usually manage to do in sci.med, I should have
been more rigorous, although the context should have been clear.  The 
average 200lb man with moderate to severe pain after wisdom tooth extraction
would probably find 15mg of codeine hardly better than a placebo.  Obviously
if a person's not in pain, an analgesic isn't indicated.
-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer@harvard.HARVARD.EDU
{linus,wanginst,bbnccv,harvard,ima,ihnp4}!spdcc!dyer