Daniel Horton (MSCE, Clinical Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania, 2015; MD, Harvard Medical School, 2008; AB, Harvard College, 2001) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Divisions of Pediatric Rheumatology and Population Health, Quality, and Implementation Sciences (PopQuIS), at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the Rutgers School of Public Health. He is a core member of the Rutgers Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science at the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research and a Chancellor’s Scholar at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences. Dr. Horton’s research focuses on the uses, safety, and effectiveness of medications in pediatric populations, and the origins and management of childhood arthritis. He performs epidemiologic studies using large administrative and electronic health records databases as well as translational research. He has been involved in efforts to understand the risk factors and impact of the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 in children and adults, with a focus on health care workers. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and various research foundations.
“Off-label medications – meaning medications used in a manner not specified in the FDA’s approved packaging label – are legal. We found that they are common and increasing in children rather than decreasing. However, we don't always understand how off-label medications will affect children, who don’t always respond to medications as adults do. They may not respond as desired to these drugs and could experience harmful effects.”
- https://www.rutgers.edu/news/label-medication-orders-rise-children
“Families often treat their children’s respiratory infections with cough and cold medicines, some of which include opioid ingredients, such as codeine or hydrocodone. However, there is little proof that these medications effectively ease the symptoms in young children.”
Viral infections have been suggested as triggers for juvenile arthritis, but multiple studies argue against this hypothesis. What is more clear, Horton said, is that children with juvenile arthritis have a higher risk of serious infections, in part because the immune system does not protect against infections as well as it should.
- https://www.rutgers.edu/news/antibiotic-exposure-could-increase-juvenile-arthritis-risk