Presentation by

Malinda Shannon, Library Research Assistant Mark D. Puterbaugh, Information Services Librarian

(mputerba@eastern.edu)

Warner Memorial Library

Eastern University

1300 Eagle Road

St. Davids, PA 19087

Scenario A classroom teacher wishes to discuss with the school nurse and the parent of her

student, a 11 year old asthmatic male, concerns about the child’s use of the OTC medication Primatene Mist.

She believes that the boy takes the medication “much too often.” She says the child appears overly “nervous”, "restless" and “tired”.

The teacher wants to know what guidelines she should use to assure the child's safety and help him keep "focused" on his class work.

To assist the nurse and the parent, we want to find information about Primatene Mist and the possible issues involved in its use.

We want reliable information from credible resources for the school nurse, the teacher and the parent.

DailyMed produced by the National Library of Medicine is a good place to

search for “high quality” health information.

The database information includes Food and Drug Administration

approved page inserts discussing medication usage and ingredients.

Type “Primatene Mist” in the “Search by Drug Name” form and select “GO”.

The result presents 2 products: Primatene Mist and the refill.

Choosing the Primatene “inhalant”

presents a listing of important

labeling information.

This includes the active ingredient

“epinephrine”, purposes, uses, and warnings.

Under “When using this product” there is a statement that using the medication can cause

“nervousness” and “sleeplessness”.

There is a very clear warning to “keep out of reach of children.”

Directions clearly state “do not exceed dosage.”

An illustration of the inhaler’s proper use is displayed.

Full color scanned images of the packaging illustrates the labeling that comes with the

product.

At the top of the screen is a link to

“Download the Official PDF of this

label.”

Following the link presents a document that can be printed and presented as a handout. This document mirrors

much of the information from the database.

Next we will look in the National Library of Medicine’s Drug Information Portal to look for

further information about epinephrine.