Psychiatric Polypharmacy: A Word of Caution

An Investigation by Protection & Advocacy, Inc. into deaths related to the combined use of multiple psychiatric medications. The administration of aggressive polypharmaceutical regimens in these deaths, according to the agency, was not supported by the clinical presentation of the patients, nor by the medical literature. The report, released in June, 2004, concluded that inadequacy of clinical responses resulted from a lack of recognition of the precipitous deterioration of each patient. In each case, inappropriate diagnostic conclusions undermined the potential for attending to the causes of the patient's deteriorating medical condition.

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