Robert Whitaker

Strategies of Drug Companies to Optimize the Sales of Their Psychiatric Drugs

The Rise and Fall of the 'Atypical' Neuroleptics: A Case Study in How the Pharmaceutical industry Hypes Its Products

When the atypical antipsychotics were introduced into the market in the early 1990s (most notably risperidone [marketed as Risperdal etc.] and olanzapine [marketed as Zyprexa etc.], they were presented to the public as “breakthrough medications” that were both more effective and safer than the standard neuroleptics (like chlorpromazine and haloperidol).

Now we know that the atypicals are no more effective than the older drugs, and are perhaps even more problematic, in terms of their side effects. This presentation will look at how the pharmaceutical companies created the initial story of “breakthrough” medications, even though the clinical trial data they submitted to the FDA in the early 1990s revealed, in fact, that the drugs were no more effective than the older ones and caused a wide range of troubling side effects.