Prescribing in special populations
A practical framework for adjusting drugs in older people, kidney and liver impairment, pregnancy and lactation, obesity, critical illness and known pharmacogenetic risk, with worked dose calculations and the prescribing issues that matter for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Māori patients.
Tier 1Topic overview
Written with AI assistance and fact-checked against the sources below. For exam study, not clinical decisions. How notes are made
At a glance
Every prescription in a special population asks the same four questions:
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Sources
- Australian Medicines Handbook (online)AU/NZAustralian Medicines Handbook Pty Ltd
- Therapeutic Guidelines (eTG complete): Antibiotic, Cardiovascular and Toxicology topicsAU/NZTherapeutic Guidelines Limited
- Prescribing medicines in pregnancy databaseAU/NZTherapeutic Goods Administration
- Evidence-based clinical practice guideline for deprescribing in older peopleAU/NZAustralian Deprescribing Guideline Collaboration (University of Sydney), 2025
- Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Management in Primary Care, 5th editionAU/NZKidney Health Australia, 2024
- Australian guideline for the prevention, diagnosis and management of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease (3.2 edition)AU/NZRHDAustralia, 2022
- Davison SN. Clinical pharmacology considerations in pain management in patients with advanced kidney failure. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 2019;14:917-31Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 2019
- Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium guidelinesCPIC
- Pharmac Te Whaioranga strategy: Māori responsivenessAU/NZPharmac Te Pātaka Whaioranga
- Last updated
- 14 November 2026
What changed
- 14 November 2026 Turnstile bot check on sign-in and signed-out feedback