BMJ  2004;328:525 (28 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7438.525-b

Letter

Children and parents need better information on medicines

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Bonati and Pandolfini write of the need for a European formulary aimed at helping those who prescribe for children or who dispense for or give drugs to them.¹ Better information about medicines for children is certainly needed.

Most medicines are given to younger children by parents and carers, whereas older children generally self administer. Since much of this is outside of current licensed indications, very little information is available to parents and children to help them make safe and informed choices about medicine taking. Drug companies are expressly prohibited from providing information for the public about unlicensed use of their products.

A new version of Medicines for Children or its equivalent is urgently needed, designed for children and parents, and written in clear, accessible lay language.² Ideally this would be available through the internet and potentially via interactive television, as well as in paper form. Such an innovation . . . [Full text of this article]

Medicines Partnership, London SE1 7JN jshaw@medicines-partnership.org

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Guidelines on neuraminidase inhibitors in children are not supported by evidence

Mkael Symmonds, Nicholas J Matheson, and Anthony Harnden
BMJ 2004 328: 227. [Extract] [Full Text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Medicines Information for Children

Sharon Conroy, et al.
bmj.com, 11 Mar 2004 [Full text]

Online poll

Find out more >>