Off-Label Prescribing Pediatrics Essay.

Write a 1-page narrative in APA format that addresses the following:

Explain the circumstances under which children should be prescribed drugs for off-label use. Be specific and provide examples.Off-Label Prescribing Pediatrics Essay.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

Describe strategies to make the off-label use and dosage of drugs safer for children from infancy to adolescence. Include descriptions and names of off-label drugs that require extra care and attention when used in pediatrics.

Off-Label Prescribing Pediatrics

Many drugs that do not have FDA approval for use in children continue to be prescribed as off-label. This means that they are either used in children younger than the recommended age or used to treat conditions that the drug is not approved for yet. The American Academy of Paediatrics states that three out of four of the drugs currently in the U.S market lack instructions on pediatric use (Mei et al., 2019). When deciding on using off label drugs on children, doctors need to base their decisions on expert medical judgment,sound scientific evidence, or published studies.Off-Label Prescribing Pediatrics Essay.

An example of the above practice lies in the use of albuterol to treat asthma in children. This has been seen to be a safe off-label use of the drug. While the drug is commonly used in toddlers and infants, albuterol is only FDA approved for use by people over the age of two (Yackey et al., 2019).Other asthma inhalers such as Advair and Dulera are FDA approved for children above the age of four. There are no other medications for treating asthma in children. Despite this, they have been used, and studies have shown that they are safe and effective, with the only alternative being failing to treat asthma symptoms in children (Gore et al., 2017).

As stated above, the key to the safe use of off-label drugs for children lies in making decisions based on decisions on expert medical judgment, sound scientific evidence, or published studies. Published research on the subject will ensure that the use of off-label drugs becomes evidence-based practice thuds eliminating risk. Pharmaceutical manufacturers should also be regulated and prohibited from marketing any off-label drug if the FDA has found the drug ineffective it unsafe (De Zen et al., 2018). Drugs such as bupivacaine and fentanyl are considered high-risk off-label drugs for use in children. Therefore, such drugs need to undergo studies to discern the safe dosage to offer children of different ages (Czaja et al., 2015).Off-Label Prescribing Pediatrics Essay.