FDA Calls for Warning on Antipsychotic Drugs

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday ordered new warnings on antipsychotic drugs, alerting physicians to a higher death rate when the medicines are prescribed for atypical use of treating dementia in elderly patients.

The black box warning affects Eli Lilly and Co.’s Zyprexa and Symbyax, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP’s Seroquel, Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal, Novartis AG’s Clozaril, Pfizer Inc.’s Geodon, and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s and Otsuka America Pharmaceutical’s Abilify.

FDA said it is asking the companies to add a boxed warning to its label describing the heightened risk and noting that the drugs are not approved to treat symptoms of dementia in the elderly.

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

Like this author?
Catch up on other posts by John M. Grohol, PsyD (or subscribe to their feed).

Comments

This post currently has 2 comments. You can read the comments or leave your own thoughts on our new comments page.

Trackbacks

No trackbacks yet to this post.

    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 12 Apr 2005
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.