The Safety of Medications for Children questioned by WHO
On September 21, 2007 the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a report via The Lancet on what issues are apparent in children’s medications today. They point to the issues we speak of here, that is, off-label use, long-term effects, drug efficacy in pediatric “dosages” and the problem of over-medication, and identification of side-effects on younger children who can not verbalize a sensation or feeling or mental ability. Once more, I contend that there is no possible way an MD, Psychiatrist, or Pediatrician is giving a full INFORMED CONSENT to the parents because the MDs (and Nurse Practitioners) have no way of knowing what damages psychiatric drugs are doing to these children. To me, this falls under the definition of “experiment”:
1. a test, trial, or tentative procedure; an act or operation for the purpose of discovering something unknown or of testing a principle, supposition, etc.: a chemical experiment; a teaching experiment; an experiment in living.
2. the conducting of such operations; experimentation: a product that is the result of long experiment
3. to try or test, esp. in order to discover or prove something: to experiment with a new procedure
This subject should not be glossed over by nurses. We are the advocates of our patients.
We must decide as a group how we are going to voice our concerns as it’s our Code of Ethics that is being challenged and the children’s Human Rights being ignored.
“Safety of medicines in children as an afterthought is an unacceptable state of affairs. Children have a right to safe and effective medicines and nations’ health systems should be judged on how they treat their children.” (The Lancet)
Sign this petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/NrseCall2Arms/