A pharmacist received a prescription for 100 mL of a cefuroxime axetil suspension to contain 300 mg of drug in each 5 mL. the pharmacist has 100 mL of a suspension containing 250 mg/5 mL and also has 250-mg scored tablets of the drug. How many tablets should be pulverized and added to the suspension to achieve the desired strength? a. 1 tablet b. 2 tablets C. 3 tablets d. 4 tablets

Let's analyze what the pharmacist can offer: a 100 mL suspension with a concentration of 250 mg/5mL of the prescribed drug. We need to calculate the amount of drug that we have in 100 mL of suspension:

5 mL of suspension ----- 250 mg of drug

100 mL of suspension ---- x = 5000 mg of drug

Now, we take a look at what was really prescribed: a 100 mL suspension with a concentration of 300 mg/5mL of the prescribed drug. Again, we calculate the quantity of drug present in 100 mL of suspension:

5 mL of suspension ----- 300 mg of drug

100 mL of suspension ---- x = 6000 mg of drug

So, there's a difference of 1000 mg of drug per 100 mL of suspension, between what was prescribed by the doctor and what the pharmacist can offer. Therefore, considering that the tablets of the same drugs contain 250 mg of it, we would need to pulverize 4 tablets (4 × 250 mg) and add it to the 250mg/5mL of suspension to reach de prescribed concentration of cefuroxime axetil.