Dymadon labeling trickery - Kids vs Babies products

Babies & Kids
1

I recently went to my local pharmacy to purchase paracetamol for my 2 young children. I have used Dymadon in the past as my older child prefers it to other brands, so that was what I was looking to purchase. There are two options - Dymadon for Babies From 1 month to 2 years Pack size: 60mL Price $6.99; and Dymadon for Kids From 2-12 years Pack size: 100mL ($8.95) & 200mL ($15.95). I have an 11 mth old and a 3 year old so I checked with the pharmacist to see if I could use the Dymadon for Kids for both of them as it would be cheaper and I could buy a bigger bottle. She had a look at the bottle and told me that I couldn’t use it with the younger child as she was outside the age and weight range marked on the bottle. So, I purchased the Dymadon for Babies as I still had some Dymadon for Kids at home.

However, upon closer examination of the bottles and the Dymadon website, it is quite clear that they are in fact identical products that are marketed differently. They have identical ingredients:
Active ingredients: paracetamol 50mg/mL or 250mg/5mL.
Also contains: methyl hydroxybenzoate, sodium benzoate, saccharin sodium and sorbitol (0.35 g/mL). Dymadon® is colour, sugar and alcohol free. (Taken from the website) and the same recommended dosages - ‘The recommended dosages are based on 15mg of paracetamol per kg in body weight’.

The only difference is that the ‘Babies’ bottle states ‘Each mL of oral liquid suspension contains PARACETAMOL 50mg’ and includes dosage instructions for children 4 - 12kg, while the ‘Kids’ bottles states ‘Each 5 mL of oral liquid suspension contains PARACETAMOL 250mg’ and includes dosage instructions for children 12 - 41kg. Basic maths (and the website) will tell you that they contain the same amount of paracetamol per mL. All you need to do is do some basic maths or use the handy dosage calculator on the website http://www.dymadon.com.au/product-dymadonâ��s_dosages-9 and you can use Dymadon Kids for all children above 1 month!! Could have saved myself some money and bought a larger bottle - if only the pharmacist could actually read the bottles carefully and do some basic maths!

3 Likes
2

Yet another case of misleading packaging for profit and should be referred to the regulator.

1 Like
4

Yes this does indeed sound like another case of painkillers with the same active ingredient being marketed differently. It’s certainly an issue we’ve noticed with adult painkillers. Sometimes the inactive ingredients on products that look the same can be different, however this won’t affect the efficacy of the drug if the active ingredient is the same. It may however be relevant if you have any intolerances or allergies.

Thanks for the alert, we’ll keep it on our radar!

2 Likes
5

Yes I too found this same issue. I was pretty annoyed and when I spoke to the pharmacist he gave me the same answer as you received :angry: I buy the kids Dymadon for my 15month old even though the measurements on the packaging don’t include him.

6

Our Chemist provided the syringe and largest bottle possible of their own brand paracetamol solution for one of our Grandchildren…with dosage instructions for weight. So not an impossible task for any chemist but certainly a costly one to their and the manufacturer’s hip pockets if you buy the more economical item. That is perhaps the real reason why they said it couldn’t be done!

7

Why two different prices for appears to be almost identical if not identical products.

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10

Aside from the obvious problem of badge engineering in relation to price these are both products of the future as they are not available until 2028.
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It is a date format that unlike Oz or British (dd/mm/yy) or US (mm/dd/yy) sorts correctly as text (yy/mm/dd). This is of no real importance except that those who read labels might expect them to have meaning for them the consumer. Unless you are in the geek ranks (or an employee who has been told) these do not.

1 Like
11

I’m a little into a version of geek territory, that is the way I date most of my documents and photos when placing them into long term storage (except my years are 4 digit rather than 2) particularly important for me for family history stuff that goes back into the 1600s.