Medicine for Children

Children cannot be treated as miniature adults. Therefore, medication for children have different specifications. A medication for adults cannot simply be “scaled down” to become a children's medicine by merely reducing the dose. Ideally, a paediatric drug should be separately tested for safety and efficacy in different age brackets. For example, 0-7 days / 7days-1month / 1month to 1year old children etc. , but this is seldom done. There are some drugs which are allowed for adults but are banned for paediatric use. Let us take the example of two such medicines -

1. Ofloxacin : Allowed for adults but not recommended for children under 18 years of age. It is not even listed in authentic PDR (Physician's Desk Reference), but is heavily prescribed and also dispensed without prescription in India for common infections. The syrup form is even labelled “for paediatric use”, which just illustrates the dismal state of drug regulation. Please beware!
2. Nimesulide : It was banned in dozens of countries about four years ago due to a cases of liver failure reported in the United Kingdom. Yet, it is continued sold with and without prescription in India, even after being banned for children after prolonged efforts consumer activists.

Please, do not self-medicate your child! Please cross-reference safety and efficacy of children's medication from the internet, reference books or package inserts. Don't rely entirely upon your doctor or the pharmacists. Many developed countries dump their discarded drugs into the developing world.Many freely available drugs are not suitable for children.