Off-label administration of drugs to healthy military personnel. Dubious ethics of preventive measures.

A lthough there are exceptions, the principle of primum nil nocere remains the cornerstone of the practice of medicine. In the well known handbook, Goodman and Gilman’s The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics a case is presented which raises doubts about the permissibility of offlabel administration of certain drugs to healthy troops as a preventive measure. The following citation from this handbook gives a clear description of the problem: