A handwritten prescription for a controlled medicine specifies the quantity in Roman numerals as tablets quantity xxiv, with the directions i tab po q6h prn pain. The technician must enter both the dispensed quantity and the maximum days supply if the patient uses every dose. Which entry is correct?
- AQuantity 26 tablets, maximum days supply 6 days, reading the numeral as twenty plus six and using four doses each day.
- BQuantity 24 tablets, maximum days supply 4 days, treating q6h as six doses spread across each twenty-four hour period.
- CQuantity 16 tablets, maximum days supply 4 days, reading xxiv as fourteen plus two and dividing by four doses daily.
- DQuantity 24 tablets, maximum days supply 6 days, taking one tablet every six hours as up to four doses per day. Correct
Why A is wrong: The days supply logic is sound, but xxiv is 24, not 26; misreading iv as 6 instead of 4 inflates the dispensed quantity by two tablets.
Why B is wrong: The quantity is read correctly, but q6h means every six hours, which is four doses a day, not six, so dividing 24 by 6 understates the days supply.
Why C is wrong: This both misreads the numeral and miscounts, since xxiv is 24 not 16; the q6h to four doses step is right but applied to the wrong quantity.
Why D is correct: Roman numeral xxiv is 24, q6h prn allows up to four doses daily, and 24 tablets divided by 4 per day gives a maximum of 6 days supply when every dose is taken.