Off label drug use in Children Medicine, Nursing Research Paper

Off Label Drug Use in Children
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Off Label Drug Use in Children
Pediatricians worldwide are mandated and obligated to use their skills and levels of experience to treat all their infant patients to full recovery. However, there efforts are significantly challenged by the fact that most medications have not been tested on children. As such, there is insufficient evidence to support not only the safety but also the efficacy of infant medications. It is in this regard that pediatric departments depend on off-label drugs to treat patients. For instance, off-label drugs are commonly used in the control and treatment of respiratory illnesses and allergies in children (Silva, Ansotegui & Morais-Almeida, 2014). However, while off-label drugs are beneficial in health care, the prescription of antibiotics needs extra care and attention to prevent the infant immune systems from becoming resistant.
According to a study that was conducted in Gondar University Referral Hospital, more than 75.8% of the drugs that were prescribed to 243 pediatric patients were off-label (Tefera et al., 2017). These statistics point to the widespread use of off-label drugs in the treatment of infants. Nonetheless, the use of off-label drugs predisposes infants to medication errors that not only complicate and worsen their conditions but also lead to their death (Whitehead, 2012). Consequently, these medications should only be used under the foll...