Project Proposal: Some recent articles have covered the over-prescription of antipsychotics by both psychiatrists and general practitioners. Abilify and Seroquel, two antispychotics, are the fifth and sixth best selling prescription drugs in the U.S., writes Dr. Richard A. Friedman, professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College in Manhattan, in a September article for the New York Times.
Second generation antipsychotics, so-called atypical antipsychotics, including the two mentioned above, came to market in 1993. While they have fewer neurological side effects than the first-generation of drugs, clinical trials have shown them to be no more effective or well-tolerated than the first generation of drugs. Plus they have serious long-term side effects of their own.
Here’s the worst part: they are increasingly being prescribed for illnesses for which they have not been approved by the FDA, including everyday anxiety disorders, insomnia and even mild emotional discomfort. And many of the people who are prescribed these medications are never told of their side effects. Nor have any real efforts been made to discourage this kind of off-label drug-pushing. In fact, the U.S. has been barred, under free-speech laws, from prosecuting drug-marketing reps for marketing their drugs for “lawful” but non-FDA approved off-label purposes. Continue reading