JAMA Pediatrics
March 2015, Vol 169, No. 3
http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/issue.aspx

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Viewpoint | March 2015
A Landmark Report on Improving Medicines for Children
Geert W. ‘t Jong, MD, PhD1,2; Terry P. Klassen, MD, MSc, FRCPC1,2; Stuart M. MacLeod, BSc(Med), MD, PhD, FRCPC3
[+] Author Affiliations
Extract
This Viewpoint discusses the publication of the Council of Canadian Academies report “Improving Medicines for Children in Canada.”
Children have been classified as “therapeutic orphans” for more than 50 years, but the pediatric community has made important strides toward evidence-based safe and effective drug therapy for children through improved legislation, increased quantity and quality of research, and better stakeholder community involvement. In September 2014, another major step forward was taken with publication of the Council of Canadian Academies report “Improving Medicines for Children in Canada.”1 An international Expert Panel drafted the report, and many North American and European authorities participated in the final review. The Council of Canadian Academies was asked by Canada’s federal government to review the status of pediatric therapeutics in Canada, based on the following question: “What is the state of clinical pharmacology, in Canada and abroad, that can be applied to the ethical development of safe and effective pharmaceuticals and biologics labeled as therapies for infants, children and youth?”1