The relationship between adherence to approved drug labeling and patient length of stay in hospitals was studied. The records of 200 patients at a 175-bed, short-term, pediatric hospital were reviewed to determine if the actual drug therapy agreed with the officially approved indications, contraindications, age restrictions and dosages. The average length of patient stay was nine days. Only 19% of the observed variation in length of stay could be correlated to the number of doses per drug per patient. The variable dose, indications, contraindications and age agreement could not be correlated to length of stay.