On the issue of efficacy and safety of prescription of pharmacological agents in pediatric practice

Abstract

Errors in prescribing pharmacological drugs remain common in pediatric practice. A certain role belongs to the inadequate quality of medical care and medical errors. Typical errors that are considered in judicial practice: polypharmacy, errors in dosage, use of medicines outside the instructions (off-label), etc. Cases of irrational use of medicines are considered. Until now, in outpatient settings, up to 50% of cases, prescribing antibiotics to children is recognized as unjustified. Aggressive promotion of medicines in the pharmaceutical market exacerbates the problems of irrational use of medicines. When changing doctors, there is often no continuity in the treatment of a sick child, as a result, errors in the technique of prescribing medicines may occur. For the treatment of many diseases of childhood, especially in neonatology, there are no special pediatric drugs and specific pediatric forms, which forces medical professionals to take risks by prescribing drugs with unknown safety and questionable efficacy. The problems of drug supply in pediatrics and the use of off-label drugs have not been completely resolved. Fueling the problem is the lack of drugs that have official approval for use in pediatric including gastroenterological, practice.