Question 76

The patient was incorrectly taking 10 mg by mouth twice a day.

The patient was supposed to take one-half tablet of Amlodipine 10 mg, which equates to 5 mg, twice a day. However, the patient is out of medication only 16 days after the initial fill, indicating that they were likely taking the full 10 mg dose twice daily instead.

A) 5 mg by mouth once daily.

This option is incorrect because it suggests a dosing regimen that would have allowed the patient to have medication remaining after 16 days. If the patient had been taking 5 mg once daily, they would have used only 15 mg over the course of 16 days, and would still have medication left.

B) 5 mg by mouth twice a day.

While this dosing would align with the correct prescription, it does not explain the premature depletion of medication. If the patient had been taking 5 mg twice a day, they would have used 30 mg in 15 days, which matches the refill request, but they would not have been out of medication after only 16 days.

C) 10 mg by mouth once daily.

This option is incorrect as well. If the patient were taking 10 mg once daily, they would have only used 10 mg over 16 days, leaving them with 20 mg remaining from the original prescription. Therefore, they would not be out of medication.

D) 10 mg by mouth twice a day.

This is the correct answer. If the patient took 10 mg twice daily, they would have consumed 60 mg in 16 days, depleting their supply of 30 tablets in that timeframe. This aligns with the observed situation where the patient is out of medication.

Conclusion

The analysis shows that the patient was incorrectly taking 10 mg by mouth twice a day, which led to them running out of their medication after only 16 days. All other options either suggest a dosage that would not result in the patient being out of medication or do not align with the prescribed regimen. Thus, option D is definitive as the actual dosing error.