We read with great interest the leading article ‘Lest we forget…’.1 The authors give a compelling account, against a historical background, of the importance of ethical review of research trials, and the tension between improving the health of the paediatric population versus the rights of the individual child.

Although there is a lot of truth in the ‘therapeutic orphan’ status of paediatric patients (given the historical dearth of pharmacological research in paediatrics), there is an opportunity for any clinician involved …