Risks vs. Benefits of Antipsychotic Drugs

Abstract

IT is a truism that a drug potent enough to do good may also do harm. It has also been too frequently true that new drugs have been pressed into service with unrestrained enthusiasm until the evidence for toxic effects have become overwhelming. The antibiotics are classic examples of both phenomena. More recently, it has begun to appear that the antipsychotic drugs (phenothiazines, thioxanthines and butyrophenones) may represent further examples. A recent report prepared by an American College of Neuropsychopharmacology-Food and Drug Administration Task Force for this journal¹ suggested that neurologic side effects of these drugs require thoughtful consideration of . . .