Possibilities and limits of psychophormacological research in children

In the lost few years a political debate on locking treatment research to the benefit of children rose all over the world. The multiple reasons for this situation (children as therapeutic orphans) like economic, legal, ethical and methodological practice are discussed in this paper, A critical review of the consequences of the so called >>off label<< and>>unlicensed use<< is given. With respect to the ability of children to understand research issues and to give assent we criticize a global concept of >>special populations<< used in many ethical-legal papers. It is not helpful to apply the some mechanisms to Alzheimer-patients, mentally retarded people, prisoners and children.