Three Editorials—Three Historical Allusions

Abstract

Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. andrew.davidson@rch.org.auIn Reply:— I thank Professor Roy for his interesting comments regarding our recent article.1To continue the historical allusion, in 1822 Dr. Buchan, a Scottish physician, wrote: “It is really astonishing, that so little attention should in general be paid to the preservation of infants. What labor and expense are daily bestowed to prop an old tottering carcase for a few years while thousands of those who might be useful in life perish without being regarded!”2Since then infant mortality has certainly improved, at least in the developed world, but in 2009 a large proportion of drugs including anesthetics still have no infant labeling. Sufficient research to demonstrate efficacy or safety has simply not been done. Almost 200 yr after Dr. Buchan made his observations, infants are still relatively disadvantaged.Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. andrew.davidson@rch.org.au