601704 A drug delivery system that delivers a loading dose and a maintenance rate of a drug to a patient is disclosed. The system includes an infusion pump and a controller (102). The controller is programmed such that the system performs the steps of (a) calculating a loading dose based on the maintenance rate or a maintenance rate based on the loading dose； (b) administering the loading dose to the patient to achieve a desired level of effect； and (c) administering the drug at a first maintenance rate to maintain the level of effect.
