Pharm test question, looking for opinions

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Hi everyone!

Just had this question on a test yesterday, wondering what you all thought;

Drs order Extra Strength Tylenol 500mg, you have on hand Tylenol 250mg. How much do you give?

Now at first, obviously it's 2 tabs but I ended up writing none, because ES Tylenol isn't the same as just Tylenol. (we've had questions similar to this from this teacher before). After checking it out furthur, regular Tylenol doesn't come in 250mg, only 325mg.

Any thoughts? :)

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It is a theoretical Q...it says that YOU HAVE 250mg....but you are right, of the wong Tylenol.....overall it is a very poorly written question if it was written as you stated here, word for word....There is no route stated, no specified frequency....so I think you chose the right answer. Untill it is a complete order that includes all the needed components it should not be administered without clarification....that would be my answer...

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Your teacher is a *****!!!! Jmho....I had one like this before. She prided herself on making her tests riddles to which the only answer was "because we did it like this 20 yrs ago" or "because I said so"

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ES Tylenol is different from regular Tylenol in that each pill contains 500mg of acetaminophen vs 325....so technically if you have pills that contain 250mg pills, two of those is the same as 1 500mg ES tylenol.....the term "extra strength" is really just a marketing ploy....

the question is testing your ability to make dosage calculations.....not whether or not you know regular tylenol comes in 325mg instead of 250mg

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