The development of a national children's formulary.

The British National Formulary has been in existence for over 30 years. The prescribing of medicines for children has been less well organized. Many medicines used in children have never been tested in the appropriate age groups and have been prescribed 'off-label'. This has led to safety issues and concerns that children continued to be treated as second-class citizens. The first attempt at the development of a national formulary specifically for prescribing in children occurred in 1999 with the publication of 'Medicines for Children'. This generated much national and international interest resulting in the government agreeing to fund the development and production of the first British National Formulary for Children in 2005. This article charts the process and progress of the formulary to the present day.