A policy statement on the paediatric use of unlicensed medicines and use of
medicines outside their licensed indications has been issued by the Royal College
of Paediatrics and Child Health and the Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacists
Group.
It says that the use of unlicensed medicines or licensed medicines for unlicensed
applications is necessary in paediatric practice when there are no suitable
alternatives and that such uses are informed and guided by a respectable and
responsible body of professional opinion. The statement forms part of the introduction
to ‘Medicines for children’, a formulary published by the Royal college.
The statement and formulary details can be found on the internet at www.rcpch.ac.uk/library/formulary.htm.