Pharmacotherapy in Children: From Art to Science (Farmacotherapie bij kinderen: van kunst tot wetenschap)
Abstract
It is generally acknowledged that a substantial proportion of prescriptions for children are written in the absence of sound scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of the drugs. Recent publications have demonstrated that for many drugs, the majority of prescriptions for children are unlicensed or off-label. Clinical research on children in order to obtain this scientific evidence would be expensive, pose ethical issues, and be complicated (involving assessments of dosage level, side effects, and considerations of different age levels). Because research to obtain such evidence for use in the pediatric population is not required for a new pharmaceutical product to be licensed, it is understandable (even if regrettable) that the manufacturers do not engage in this research.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA411848
Entities
Organizations
- RAND Corporation