PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - David M. Gardner
AU  - Ross J. Baldessarini
AU  - Paul Waraich
TI  - Modern antipsychotic drugs: a critical overview
AID  - 10.1503/cmaj.1041064
DP  - 2005 Jun 21
TA  - Canadian Medical Association Journal
PG  - 1703--1711
VI  - 172
IP  - 13
4099  - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/172/13/1703.short
4100  - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/172/13/1703.full
SO  - CMAJ2005 Jun 21; 172
AB  - CONVENTIONAL ANTIPSYCHOTIC DRUGS, used for a half century to treat a range of major psychiatric disorders, are being replaced in clinical practice by modern “atypical” antipsychotics, including aripiprazole, clozapine, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone and ziprasidone among others. As a class, the newer drugs have been promoted as being broadly clinically superior, but the evidence for this is problematic. In this brief critical overview, we consider the pharmacology, therapeutic effectiveness, tolerability, adverse effects and costs of individual modern agents versus older antipsychotic drugs. Because of typically minor differences between agents in clinical effectiveness and tolerability, and because of growing concerns about potential adverse long-term health consequences of some modern agents, it is reasonable to consider both older and newer drugs for clinical use, and it is important to inform patients of relative benefits, risks and costs of specific choices.