Crystal Naoum and Ekhlas Khalaf developed Loli-Med to help parents give liquid medicine to children who resist taking it. Both women are pharmacists who had seen families struggle with oral syringes during their work in compounding pharmacies. Khalaf had also experienced the problem with her own daughter.
Khalaf’s youngest daughter, Dania, was so resistant to taking liquid medicine that the family eventually took her to a hospital. Even with help from medical staff, Dania refused the medicine and had to receive it by injection. The experience gave Khalaf a personal reason to look for another way to administer medication to young children.
Naoum and Khalaf drew on their pharmacy experience to develop a dispenser that combines a standard oral syringe with a lollipop-shaped attachment. Parents measure the medicine in the syringe as usual, then attach the candy head and slowly press the plunger while the child holds the lollipop in their mouth. The medicine passes through the attachment without changing the prescribed dose.
The two pharmacists designed the product to make the syringe less intimidating while addressing the taste of liquid medicine. They also had to account for the safety requirements of a product intended for young children. The finished Loli-Med uses a securely attached candy head that cannot be removed from the syringe during normal use. Each attachment is intended for a single dose and is discarded afterward.
Naoum and Khalaf established Happy Dose LLC in Colorado to bring Loli-Med to market. They moved beyond the initial concept to commercial manufacturing, developing a finished product with medical-grade plastic syringe components and lollipop heads made without artificial dyes. The business also registered its manufacturing establishment with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Loli-Med began reaching families through direct sales on its website. The founders have reported serving more than 500 families, although detailed sales figures have not been made public. Their work has centered on bringing the dispenser to parents who struggle with children’s liquid medication, drawing on the same pharmacy experience and personal circumstances that led them to develop it.
