Abstract
Prescribing medication for children requires extra caution compared to prescribing in adults as there are differences in pharmacokinetics in different age groups affecting the pharmacodynamics of drugs. There is a lack of new drug development trials in children due to ethical concerns about conducting trials and about recruitment. This leads to prescribing medication which is off-label or unlicensed and this needs to be explained to parents and children to gain informed consent and answer any queries. Palatability of a medicine plays a big role and can raise challenges for parents during administration. Techniques to aid administration such as masking the taste, using an oral syringe or giving a strongly flavoured food or drink after administration of medicine may be helpful.
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