Broadened Use Of Atypical Antipsychotics: Safety, Effectiveness, And Policy Challenges
- Stephen Crystal ([email protected]) is Board of Governors Professor and director of the Center for Health Services Research on Pharmacotherapy, Chronic Disease Management, and Outcomes (CHSR-PCDMO), Institute for Health, Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Mark Olfson is a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University in New York City. Cecilia Huang is a research project manager at the CHSR-PCDMO. Harold Pincus is a professor and vice chair, Department of Psychiatry, at Columbia University. Tobias Gerhard is an assistant professor in the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy and the CHSR-PCDMO, Rutgers.
Abstract
ABSTRACT:
Atypical antipsychotic medications are increasingly used for a wide range of clinical indications in diverse populations, including privately and publicly insured youth and elderly nursing home residents. These trends heighten policy challenges for payers, patients, and clinicians related to appropriate prescribing and management, patient safety, and clinical effectiveness. For clinicians and patients, balancing risks and benefits is challenging, given the paucity of effective alternative treatments. For health care systems, regulators, and policymakers, challenges include developing the evidence base on comparative risks and benefits; defining measures of treatment quality; and implementing policies that encourage evidence-based practices while avoiding unduly burdensome restrictions.
