Each year, hundreds of millions of prescription medications are dispensed to pediatric patients. 1 A significant proportion of prescriptions are used in an off-label manner, outside the specifications approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), rendering off-label prescribing a "public health issue for infants, children and adolescents, " as described by the Committee on Drugs for the American Academy of Pediatrics. 2 The committee also explicitly states that off-label use "does not imply an improper, illegal, contraindicated or investigational use. " Yet, when used in research, clinical practice, or even the lay media, the term off-label commonly carries a negative connotation. This interpretation probably reflects the sense of uncertainty in understanding the risk-benefit balance of a medication without FDA review and approval. However, prescribing according to the package insert does not necessarily translate to the safe and effective use of a medication. 3 The clinical trial data required for FDA approval often represent highly select populations in controlled settings with limited follow-up. These data may not translate well to real-world use, hence the need for postmarketing surveillance and research. Conversely, lack of pediatric labeling for a medication does not necessarily indicate a lack of evidence. It may simply mean the pharmaceutical company has not submitted an application for FDA approval to add a new indication or population.This apparent paradox gives us the opportunity to consider how we, the pediatric community of clinicians, researchers, and policymakers, think about the issue of off-label prescribing and how best to direct future efforts in medication research and policy. The Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act prioritization process focuses on gathering expert opinion to inform research priorities related to therapeutic needs, with a primary goal of identifying drugs for pediatric clinical trials. 4 We argue that such approaches should be complemented by a structured consideration of risks and benefits informed by increasingly available data from practice. Pediatric research on off-label prescribing often focuses on the dichotomy of on-label versus off-label prescribing rates, defined mainly by age limits and occasionally indication. Understanding the extent of off-label practice is important, but it represents only a single dimension of a complex issue. This information does not necessarily determine whether the way a