Prescribing Medicines For Children

Prescribing for children is a particularly challenging discipline due to specific issues of drug absorption, metabolism, distribution and excretion. The aim of this book is to improve understanding in all aspects of paediatric prescribing, from the development of suitable drugs through to their practical administration. With its origins in the EU-funded Global Research in Paediatrics (GRiP) project this is the first truly international textbook to provide guidance on the principles behind optimal neonatal and paediatric prescribing. Harnessing the international expertise of paediatricians and pharmacists in the field, Prescribing Medicines for Children compliments the British National Formulary for Children (BNFC), facilitating translation of essential pharmacological principles into good prescribing practice. It incorporates specific information on how to promote safe and effective prescribing in paediatrics, including how to avoid medication errors and adverse drug reactions in children. Highlights include the differences in prescribing habits between countries and the shared principles that underpin rational prescribing in paediatrics and neonatology. The book is divided into two sections: Section A provides concise educational material relating to paediatric pharmacology and optimising how medicines are developed and prescribed for children. Section B considers key clinical prescribing areas and can be used as a quick reference guide. Each chapter is focused on the key issues in prescribing for a respective clinical specialty or context. Prescribing Medicines for Children is essential reading for all those who are involved in prescribing medicines to neonates and children. This includes undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacists, nurses, paediatricians and primary care physicians, academic scientists, and those working in the pharmaceutical industry and drug regulation.

Decades of research have demonstrated that children do not respond to medications in the same way as adults. Differences between children and adults in the overall response to medications are due to profound anatomical, physiological, and developmental differences. Although few would argue that children should receive medications that have not been adequately tested for safety and efficacy, the majority of drugs prescribed for children-50 to 75 percent-have not been tested in pediatric populations. Without adequate data from such testing, prescribing drugs appropriately becomes challenging for clinicians treating children, from infancy through adolescence. Addressing the Barriers to Pediatric Drug Development is the summary of a workshop, held in Washington, D.C. on June 13, 2006, that was organized to identify barriers to the development and testing of drugs for pediatric populations, as well as ways in which the system can be improved to facilitate better treatments for children.

Pediatric Drug Development, Second Edition, encompasses the new regulatory initiatives across EU, US and ROW designed to encourage improved access to safe and effective medicines for children. It includes new developments in biomarkers and surrogate endpoints, developmental pharmacology and other novel aspects of pediatric drug development.

Prescribing for children is problematic. Children are not small adults in terms of their physiology, and they cannot be subjects in clinical trials. This makes prescribing for them something of an art and a daunting one at that for trainees. Will Carroll (co-editor of the Illustrated Textbook of Paediatrics amongst other titles for paediatrics trainees) with a team of fellow paediatricians and a hospital pharmacist have sought to demystify prescribing for children. The team has identified what from their experience are the most common drugs prescribed to children and have addressed each one, adding detail about how each medicine works. Each chapter follows the ABCDE structure covering Absorption, Biological effects, Clearance, Dosing and side Effects in children. This book is a succinct, portable reference, modelled closely on Hitchings et al.: The Top 100 Drugs. Written in conjunction with a hospital pharmacist for drug expertise. User-friendly double-page-spread approach. Each drug entry preceded by clinical pharmacology information with consistent headings: Why and when; Absorption; Biology. Each drug presented in consistent categories: Clearance; Dosing; Administration; Side effects and interactions; Monitoring and Cost.

The Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (BPCA) and the Pediatric Research Equity Act (PREA) were designed to encourage more pediatric studies of drugs used for children. The FDA asked the IOM to review aspects of pediatric studies and changes in product labeling that resulted from BPCA and PREA and their predecessor policies, as well as assess the incentives for pediatric studies of biologics and the extent to which biologics have been studied in children. The IOM committee concludes that these policies have helped provide clinicians who care for children with better information about the efficacy, safety, and appropriate prescribing of drugs. The IOM suggests that more can be done to increase knowledge about drugs used by children and thereby improve the clinical care, health, and well-being of the nation's children.

Antimicrobial agents are essential for the treatment of life-threatening infections and for managing the burden of minor infections in the community. In addition, they play a key role in organ and bone marrow transplantation, cancer chemotherapy, artificial joint and heart valve surgery. Unlike other classes of medicines, they are vulnerable to resistance from mutations in target microorganisms, and their adverse effects may extend to other patients (increased risk of cross-infection). As a consequence, there is a constant requirement for new agents, as well as practices that ensure the continued effective prescribing of licensed agents. Public awareness and concerns about drug resistant organisms has led to widespread publicity and political action in the UK, Europe and worldwide. The control of drug resistance and the implementation of good prescribing practice are now legal requirements in the UK as a result of the UK Health Act (2008). These fundamental changes underscore the need for a thorough understanding of the advantages and risks associated with specific antibiotic choices. This sixth edition of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy continues to be a valuable resource for undergraduates and graduates requiring a thorough grounding in the scientific basis and clinical application of these drugs. This new edition is updated to include the most recently licensed agents, notably in the treatment of viral infections including HIV/AIDS, and contains new guidance on prescribing practice and infection control practices that limit the development and spread of resistant organisms.

This special guide profiles hundreds of the most commonly-prescribed brand name and generic medications for children, as well as commonly recommended over-the-counter preparations. Each profile includes common uses, side effects and interactions, and warnings for each drug.