Medicines that work well for adults may not be safe or effective for children or teens. It may not be safe to assume that your doctor is prescribing a drug that has been tested and declared safe for your child.
Here are some questions you can ask to help make sure your child is getting the right medications.
- Why are you prescribing this drug? Some doctors think parents expect to go home with drugs every time. Studies have shown that sometimes drugs just aren’t needed. Ear infections, for example, often go away just as quickly without antibiotics!
- Will a “wait and see” approach work with this illness?
- Will a natural approach work with this illness? I’ve successfully fought off more than one sinus infection using a salt water rinse, rather than antibiotics. Even conditions like depression may respond just as well (or better) to counseling than to drugs.
- Has this drug been studied in children? A study from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia found that nearly eighty percent of drugs given to children were not actually approved for use in the age group. These off label drugs may have been studied and proven safe in children outside the suggested age group.
- What are the side effects of this drug? Will the benefits of the medication outweigh the risks?
- How long does my child need to take this drug? Some medications — like antibiotics — come in certain amounts and should be finished. Others, like medications for depression or ADHD, are prescribed indefinitely.
- Will a weight change affect the dose needed? Every time your child’s weight changes by ten percent (increase or decrease) you should get a chronic condition and medication reassessed.
- How long has this drug been around? Brand new drugs may only come with limited data on safety in children. If there’s an older drug that works well, it may be a safer choice — the longer a drug is available, the more researchers will know about how it will affect a child.