House of Lords finds too many drugs not tested on children

A House of Lords committee has uncovered that as many as 90 per cent of drugs used on children have never been specifically studied or authorised for their use.

The European Union social and consumer affairs committee was investigating new European plans under the Clinical Trials Directive to make pharmaceutical firms producing adult drugs test if they can be used on children.

The committee’s report concluded: “There is an overwhelming and urgent need to take effective action at European level to govern clinical trials in children and the authorisation of medicinal products for paediatric use with the minimum of delay.”

It added: “It is abundantly clear from our evidence that children are not just young adults: their reaction to drugs varies considerably in relation to age and other factors and the newly-born are particularly vulnerable.”

The committee suggested that labelling should take this into account and clinical trials databases should contain full details of all paediatric trials.

Professor Sir Alan Craft, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health responded to the report by saying: “We welcome the report from the House of Lords. It highlights once again that the majority of medicines given to babies and children are unlicensed.

“Better testing would however result in a better situation for children. This should not alarm people, as the unlicensed medicines are prescribed by doctors with experience of working with children.”

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