Doctors need more training in the types of medicine and doses appropriate for children, who are not “little adults”, according to a Newcastle University study, which found that only three medical institutions test doctors before allowing them to prescribe for children.
“For an adult you have standard doses, but for children doses are calculated on their weight, if they are premature, and how old they are. Each dose has to be worked out on an individual basis for each patient,” said Sharon Conroy, who led the research. “We know that errors are made. There have been a number of studies – three or four in the UK.
