Children can expect the medicines prescribed for them to have at least as good an evidence base as in adult practice. Current licensing arrangements in the UK ensure a rigorous assessment of most drugs used for adults, whereas prescribing outside the licence is relatively common for children. Until the evidence base is increased, consensus guidelines or formularies, such as the new British National Formulary for Children, provide some protection for children and prescribers. For the future, there is optimism that the dearth of research on which to base children's prescribing will be addressed by new initiatives, such as the UK Medicines for Children Research Network and draft EU legislation providing incentives to industry.