Zyprexa, Other New Antipsychotic Drugs No Better Than Old Ones

An article in the October 2, 2006 issue of the Washington Post written by Shankar Vedantom stated that Zyprexa and the other atypical antipsychotic drugs are no better than the older class of antipsychotics, and cause different, worse safety effects.

Mr. Vedantom reported on yet another study proving that this was true.  Zyprexa and the other newer antipsychotics have been subject to intensive marketing campaigns while causing major new medical harm and death.  Dangers include diabetes, hyperglycemia, death, heart attacks and strokes.  A recent suit settled against Eli Lilly for 8000 plaintifs who had suffered medical harm, pricinpally diabetes, and death as a result of taking the drug.  The basis of the claim was that Eli Lilly knew of the danger but did not warn patients.  The FDA finally required a waring label for diabetes, hyperglycemia, and death in 2004.

Psychiatrists who had been "champions" of the new drugs responded to this most recent study (there have been others showing the same result) by saying they had gotten carried away by intensive marketing of the drugs.