Are FDA Warnings on Antipsychotics Heeded?
April 7th 2010The impact of FDA alerts and label warnings was examined in 2 recently published studies of antipsychotic drug use. In one study, researchers gauged physician response to the 2005 warning of increased mortality with antipsychotic use in elderly patients with dementia, and in the other study, researchers determined whether recommended safeguards were implemented following the 2003 advisories on adverse metabolic effects of second-generation antipsychotics.
New Recommendations for Treatment of Schizophrenia
February 6th 2010Newly published recommendations for pharmacological and psychosocial treatments from the Schizophrenia Patient Outcomes Research Team (PORT) are the first to address related treatments, such as smoking cessation, substance abuse, and weight loss, and they are the first update since 2003.
Addictions Conference Assesses Treatments
December 30th 2009The empirical basis for the effectiveness of 12-step recovery and the psychotherapeutic benefits of opioid agonist maintenance were among the topics of several symposia with introspective views of time-tested treatments at the 40th Annual Medical-Scientific Conference of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) in New Orleans.
Atypical Antipsychotics Increase Cardiometabolic Risk in Children
December 29th 2009A study of the adverse effects of 4 second-generation antipsychotics in children and adolescents documented substantial weight gain during 11 weeks of treatment with each agent, with the increased abdominal fat that has been associated with development of metabolic syndrome in adults. Metabolic abnormalities emerged with 3 of the 4 agents, differing in type and severity with the agent and, in some cases, with the dose.
Focus on Pharmacotherapy Studies in the Elderly
November 23rd 2009The NIMH-sponsored New Clinical Drugs Evaluation Unit (NCDEU) meeting is a favored venue for reports and reviews of NIH-funded psychopharmacological studies, and this was true of the recent annual meeting in Hollywood, Fla. The meeting included a workshop on new investigations of antidepressant use in Alzheimer disease and a panel session on the safety of pharmacotherapy in older adults.
Advocates Call for Treating Tobacco Dependence in Psychiatric Patients
November 7th 2009Smoking cessation services should be integrated into substance use disorder treatment programs, according to David Kalman, MD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts, and colleagues, in their recent review of tobacco dependency among patients who sought treatment for alcoholism.1
Iloperidone Approved as “Second-Generation” Benefits Debated
August 25th 2009The FDA recently approved iloperidone (Fanapt, Vanda Pharmaceuticals) for the treatment of schizophrenia, reversing a July 2008 determination that the New Drug Application (NDA) was “not approvable.” An FDA spokesperson explained in an interview in Forbes (May 8), “Vanda provided the FDA with additional data and arguments that led us to reinterpret results of several of their studies.”
Cardiac Risk Same With Typical and Atypical Antipsychotics
June 11th 2009Second-generation (atypical) antipsychotic drugs may not have an advantage for cardiovascular risk over typical antipsychotics, according to a recent, large retrospective cohort study. Researchers at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Tennessee found that risk of sudden cardiac death is heightened with antipsychotics, whether typical or atypical, and the risk increases significantly with increasing doses.
Mortality With Antipsychotic Use in Alzheimer Disease
June 11th 2009Mortality in elderly patients with dementia markedly and progressively increases with extended use of antipsychotics, according to the first long-term controlled study of risk in this population. Earlier evidence of this risk was from short-term trials not exceeding 14 weeks.
Guideline on Post-MI Depression
June 2nd 2009Patients who have had a myocardial infarction (MI) should be screened and appropriately treated for depression, according to a guideline recently issued by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).1 The group recommends use of a standardized depression symptom checklist during hospitalization and “at regular intervals” thereafter.
Maintaining Treatment of Depression in Adolescents Increases Remissions
May 7th 2009Anew study shows that the rate of remission in adolescents treated for depression for 36 weeks was more than double that of adolescents treated for 12 weeks, whether treatment was with an antidepressant, cognitive-behavioral therapy, or a combination of both.1
Mortality With Antipsychotic Use in Alzheimer Disease
March 4th 2009Mortality in elderly patients with dementia markedly and progressively increases with extended use of antipsychotics, according to the first long-term controlled study of risk in this population. Earlier evidence of this risk was from short-term trials not exceeding 14 weeks.
Sildenafil Studied in Women With Antidepressant-Associated Sexual Dysfunction
January 26th 2009Sildenafil (Viagra, Revatio) reduced antidepressant-associated sexual dysfunction in women in a randomized controlled trial, which investigators characterize as the first conducted in women with this adverse drug effect.
Antipsychotics in Children: Experts Report Mixed Results
December 1st 2008Studies of antipsychotics in child prenpresented at the 48th Annual New Clinical Drugs Evaluation Unit (NCDEU) Meeting, conducted by the NIMH in Phoenix, May 27-30, provide some data where there have been relatively little on the increasing use of these agents.
NIMH Plans Accelerating Research to Remedies
October 1st 2008A strategic plan to guide research priorities and resource allocations of the NIMH was released recently by NIMH Director, Thomas R. Insel, MD. The plan is intended to provide direction over the next 5 years toward the institute’s stated vision of “a world in which mental illnesses are prevented and cured.”
Last Minute Drug Approvals Linked to Postmarket Safety Issues
August 1st 2008Drugs approved by the FDA just before mandated deadlines are more likely to have safety issues after entering the market than those approved at other times, according to a study in the March 27 New England Journal of Medicine.1 Coincidentally, on that date, the FDA announced the first group of marketed medications, including the atypical antipsychotic clozapine (Clozaril), for which it is requiring additional safety plans under the FDA Amendments Act of 2007.
Antipsychotic Use Questioned for Developmentally Disabled
June 2nd 2008Two new studies of antipsychotic efficacy for nonpsychotic behaviors in persons with developmental disability provide data where there has been relatively little, but their contrary findings leave this a controversial use of medication.
Dual-Diagnosis Patients: Slow Progress in Improving Care
March 1st 2008The therapeutic challenges presented by comorbid psychiatric and substance abuse disorders, along with strategies and initiatives to improve treatment, were the focus of a recent collection of studies and reviews in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.
Evidence Grows for Value of Antipsychotics as Antidepressant Adjuncts
February 1st 2008The FDA recently approved the use of aripiprazole (Abilify) in combination with antidepressant medication for the treatment of major depression in adults. Although a variety of agents have been used in efforts to augment the effect of antidepressants, this first approved adjunct is likely to increase this use of atypical antipsychotics.