In April 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced an increased risk of death (1.6 to 1.7 times the risk of placebo controls) in elderly patients receiving atypical antipsychotic drugs to treat dementia-related psychosis. The causes of death varied, but most were cardiovascular or infectious.
   Now FDA officials have added this warning to conventional antipsychotic drugs as well, and makers of conventional antipsychotics must add a boxed warning to the prescribing information for these drugs.
   Antipsychotic drugs aren't approved for treating dementia-related psychosis. In fact, because no drug is approved for this purpose, FDA officials urge health care professionals to pursue other management options. They also urge health care providers who use antipsychotic drugs for dementia-related psychosis to discuss the increased risk of death with patients and their families and caregivers.
   Conventional antipsychotics include chlorpromazine, fluphenazine, haloperidol, loxapine, molindone, perphenazine, pimozide, prochlorperazine, thioridazine, thiothixene, and trifluoperazine. Atypical antipsychotics include aripiprazole, clozapine, olanzapine, olanzapine-fluoxetine, paliperidone, quetiapine, risperidone, and ziprasidone.

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