The peculiarities of off-label use of drugs in pediatrics

Abstract

Prescribing drugs is not an easy task for pediatricians since the range of choice of drugs in pediatrics is 2/3 less than in adult patients. The aim of this work is to analyze the literature data on the experience of using off-label drugs in pediatrics in the world. Materials and methods. Bibliographic analysis, literature review, statistical analysis. Results. Based on the analysis, it was found that one of the most important reasons for off-label drug prescribing in children is the lack of standard, licensed, and safe therapeutic options for clinical trials of drugs in some diseases or conditions in children. Possible approaches to solving problems of “off-lable use” of drugs in medicine and health care are presented. Conclusions. Off-label drug use in children can be improved by reports from pediatricians of pediatric experience with various off-label drugs in the form of scientific articles or discussions at scientific conferences, or with high levels of evidence. When deciding on the prescription of an off-label drug to a child, doctors should be sure that this is the only correct step, provided that there is a national form and a national list of essential medicines.

Keywords

• pediatrics
• pharmacotherapy
• off-label use