Prescribing of unlicensed medicines or licensed medicines for unlicensed applications in child and adolescent psychiatry

Abstract

Aims and MethodChild and adolescent mental health services in north-west England (n=21) participated in a prospective collection of information regarding all instances of new prescribing of medication over the 6–month period September 1999 to February 2000.ResultsA total of 478 new prescriptions were issued to 411 individuals. Eight prescriptions (2%) were for an unlicensed drug and a further 188 (39%) were of licensed drugs but used in a manner outside of their product licence.Clinical ImplicationsThis level of unlicensed and outside-licence prescribing is similar to levels previously found in studies both within paediatric practice and in adult mental health practice. Anxiety about excessive beyond-licence prescribing by child mental health services is unlikely to be justified.