Development of drug therapy for children.

The National Commission is about to finalize its recommendations with regard to research in children. It is significant that the commission will propose that research in children is necessary and should be supported. Clinical pharmacologic studies in infants and children require encouragement, as well as support, if drugs are to be developed in the future that do not have limited indications for the pediatric-aged patient, due to incomplete pediatric studies. The ethics of conducting pharmacologic investigations in infants and children have been discussed and recommendations have been prepared by the Committee on Drugs of the American Academy of Pediatrics. These discussions and recommendations differ in some significant ways from the most recent draft available from the National Commission.