Common Drugs with Effective Off-Label Uses

Abstract

The term off-label drug use (OLDU) is utilized broadly in the medical literature. It is a polarizing term since it may be related to incredible advantage or harm to patients. OLDU is defined as drug uses that not included in the indications or dosage regimens listed in the drug labeling. The main issue with off-label use is that there is insufficient information supports the use of the drug so this review aims to give brief information about some common drugs with effective and useful off-label uses based on scientific study and to encourage the researcher to provide sufficient information for the physician and health care providers about off-label uses to decrease the risk of harm to the patients. There are many drugs with various off-label uses that play an important role clinically such as using atorvastatin in chronic heart failure (CHF) due to its pleiotropic action also it can show a significant reduction in the frequency of hospitalization due to CHF exacerbation. However, that make off-label uses an important is several diseases do not have approved drugs, partly because the diseases are rare or conducting clinical trials and marketing the drug for such diseases may not be gainful.