That's why you see the proliferation of these pediatric studies. The provision has been lucrative, said Carl Seiden, a pharmaceutical industry analyst with J. P. Morgan Securities. The same goes for Schering Plough, which has received pediatric exclusivity for Claritin, the allergy drug. The provision is set to expire next January, although the pharmaceutical industry and pediatric pharmacologists are lobbying hard to retain it. Senators Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, and Mike DeWine, Republican of Ohio, have expressed interest in renewing it.
Pediatric researchers say they can barely keep up with the drug industry's demand for new studies.
That infrastructure never developed for children. Across the country, in cities like Louisville, Ky., and Milwaukee, children's hospitals are expanding their research units. In Ohio, the Children's Medical Center of Akron, a nonprofit hospital, has spun off a for- profit business, Pediatric Clinical Trials International. And in Hartford, Kelson Pediatric Partners, a company that manages pediatricians' offices, has recently created a clinical trials network. That kind of advertising worries Dr. Kauffman.