These drugs, taken together, are given to over five million children each year. Less than half of the drugs used in the treatment of HIV infections carry any safety or effectiveness information for children. Of those that do, the data is often incomplete. Safety and effectiveness information is especially sparse for the over seven million children under the age of two. The percentage of drugs being tested on children decreased by over one-third between 1991 and 1996.
Drugs are likely to have a different impact on children than adults.
The appropriate use and dosage levels of medication for children and adults is usually different because of disparities in organs, the immune system, and metabolism. Children who take prescription drugs that have not been tested on pediatric populations are at serious risk for unexpected adverse reactions. Evidence suggests that prescribing drugs that have not been adequately tested on children can be extremely dangerous. Other children had withdrawl symptoms from prolonged administration of fentanyl, a pain killer used as an adjunct to anesthesia in infants and small children. Still others have suffered seizures and cardiac arrest from bupivacaine, a local anesthetic not adequately tested on pediatric populations.