Mortality Associated with Conventional vs. Atypical Antipsychotic Drugs

In April 2005, the FDA issued an advisory stating that atypical antipsychotic drugs can increase the mortality rate in older demented patients with behavior disorders. This advisory, based on an analysis of 17 placebo-controlled studies, motivated researchers to conduct a retrospective cohort study to compare mortality rates among elders who used the newer atypical antipsychotics with those among elders who used older “conventional” antipsychotics.

Using data from a large prescription-benefits program and from Medicare, researchers studied 23,000 patients (age, 65 or older; mean age, 83) who began using a conventional antipsychotic or an atypical antipsychotic (aripiprazole, clozapine, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, ziprasidone) from 1…