For too long, children have been seen as an afterthought, with so many drugs not available to them. A child is not just half an adult to be given half the adult dose. Tamar Nordenberg is a staff writer for FDA Consumer. These 10 drugs were prescribed more than 5 million times in a single year to children in age groups for which the drugs were not adequately labeled. Drug companies do not have to perform additional studies like the pediatric rule requires, but must include available information in a specific format and location.
People are busy.
Physicians don't sit down and read the whole drug label. While drugs for everything from heart problems and high blood pressure to pneumonia and the flu can be lifesavers for older people, the dangers of medicine can be magnified in this population, too. One reason for the increased risk is people's changing physiology as they get older, says Charles Ganley, M.D., FDA's medical team leader for cardiorenal drug products. For example, he says, certain drugs that are eliminated from the body by the kidneys could cause problems in the elderly because kidney function can decline with age. The use of multiple drugs can increase the risk of dangerous drug interactions.