ANTIPSYCHOTICS:Killers by any name

In a retrospective study of 22,890 patients, aged 65 or older and taking antipsychotics over a nine-year period, those using conventional medications had a significantly higher risk of death than those using the atypical antipsychotics we’ve been warned about. The highest risk was shortly after therapy began, or in those patients who were taking higher dosages of the conventional antipsychotics.

The researchers concluded that, in elderly patients, conventional classes of drugs should not be used to replace the atypical antipsychotics discontinued in response to the FDA warning (N Engl J Med, 2005; 353: 2335-41).