GOLDILOKS: Getting Medication Dosage “Just Right” for Children

Why does one child respond to a medication, but another doesn’t?

What are the factors that influence how a child responds to a medication and how do those differ from adults?

Despite all the talk about “big pharma” and research, very little has been done about testing the safety and efficacy of medications for children.

Even with new FDA regulations in place, pediatric labeling is decreasing, not increasing.

The Clinical Pharmacology, Toxicology and Personalized Therapeutics program at Children’s Mercy is the largest and most comprehensive pediatric pharmacology program in North America and has been at the forefront of advocating and advancing research.

The GOLDILOKS initiative acknowledges that individual children are not small average adults; dosing of medications must include factors that make each child unique in order to deliver the dose of medication that is “just right” for each individual child.

Children’s Mercy faculty (trained in a pediatric subspecialty and clinical pharmacology) are looking at how this applies in several subspecialty areas including cardiology, infectious disease, asthma/allergy, rheumatology, gastroenterology, neonatology and hematology/oncology.

Steve Leeder, PharmD, PhD is here to discuss the best ways to keep your child and their medications safe.