Although all of the harriet lane handbooks are excellent references for anyone in pediatrics or even just doing a pediatric rotation, the 13th edition is somewhat dated. The 14th edition is more up to date, and the 15th although more bulky is excellent and a real must for anyone in pediatrics.

This is a quick guide used mainly by housestaff for drug doses. It does have alot of information about many topics with quick reminders. One has to remember that it is written by pediatric chief residents and is not the gold standard by which all is measured. There are mistakes in it, often in regards for doses and drug availability. It is a good quick guide for pediatrics but should not be used as the sole source of information.

harriet lane lists dilantin as available as a 125mg/5ml and 30mg/5ml suspension. the manufacturer has removed the 30mg/5ml dosage form from the market due to prescribing confusion. (we are not aware of a generic equivalent) many practitioners use harriet lane, and still write for dilantin assuming that the 30mg/5ml dosage form is still available. we have seen one case of dilantin toxicity from a dilantin dispensing error that originated with a prescription for 30mg/5ml dilantin. (Rx misfilled for the prescribed milliliter dosage amount except the 125mg/5ml dilantin was dispensed) the practitioner wrote the prescription for 30mg/5ml dilantin based on the notation in harriet lane. medication information is often incomplete. due to format and layout constraints, harriets does not provide complete drug information, however, many practitioners are under the misconception that harriets is an exhaustive reference. many of the charts, tables, etc. provide a minimum amount (and often not enough) information to make therapeutic decisions. when called about ambiguous medication orders physicians often respond "but it was in harriets"

harriets attempts to provide too much general information in one reference, and often there is not enough specific information on the topics covered. many practitioners use this is their primary and only pediatric drug reference. other references are available that provide more specific information that is better organized and more useful (such as pediatric dosage handbook.)