Development of a provisional essential medicines list for children in Canada: consensus process.

Development of a provisional essential medicines list for children in Canada: consensus process. CMAJ Open. 2018 Mar 26;6(1):E146-E150 Authors: Woods H, Oronsaye E, Bali A, Rajakulasingam Y, Lee T, Umali N, Cohen E, Finkelstein Y, Offringa M, Persaud N Abstract BACKGROUND: Worldwide, many countries have developed a list of essential medicines for children to improve prescribing. We aimed to create an essential medicines list for children in Canada. METHODS: We adapted the previously created preliminary list of essential medicines for adults in Canada and the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines for Children to create a provisional list of essential medicines for children in Canada. Canadian clinicians made suggestions for changes. Literature relevant to each suggestion was presented to clinician-scientists, who used a modified nominal group technique to make recommendations on the suggestions. Ontario Public Drug Programs prescription data were reviewed to identify commonly prescribed medications missing from the list. Literature relevant to these medications was shared with a clinician-scientist review panel to determine which should be added, and a revised list was developed. RESULTS: A total of 76 items were removed from the list of essential medicines for adults in Canada because they were not indicated for use in children or were not relevant in the Canadian health care context; 7 medications were added to the c...
Source: cmaj - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: CMAJ Open Source Type: research