Washington Post

FDA Issues Warning on Some Antipsychotic Drugs
By Shankar Vedantam
Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday warned doctors that elderly
patients with dementia who are being treated with an older class of
antipsychotic drugs appear to be at increased risk of dying.

The agency ordered a "black box" warning placed on the labels of drugs
such as haldol and thorazine, which are sometimes used to pacify
demented patients who become aggressive or disturbed. A similar
warning was placed on the newer class of "atypical" antipsychotic
drugs three years ago.

Although information on the use of the older drugs in nursing homes
and elsewhere is spotty, the regulatory agency said it thinks the
older drugs were not as widely used as the newer ones, which include
Risperdal, Zyprexa and Seroquel.