Psychiatric drug guidelines sought

A $5.6 million project led by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation is attempting to establish recommendations for national psychiatric medication guidelines.

Touting the three-phase approach as the first of its kind, researchers say that variations in treatments often resulting in individual patients receiving multiple regimens as they pass through private and public institutions and see different doctors is inhibiting quality, cost-effectiveness, and outcomes-based care.

That, coupled with the increase on new drugs on the market, calls for the type of clinical study being undertaken, focusing on patients with schizophrenia, major depression, and bipolar disorder.

Fifteen pilot sites throughout the state have signed up to take part in the algorithm-designed study, focusing on initial guideline approaches, clinical testing, and field testing as its three phases.

The study is led by pharmacy professor Lynn Crismon, PharmD, at the University of Texas at Austin; John Rush, MD, UT Southwest-ern vice chair in psychiatry research; and Steven Shon, MD, medical director of the Texas Depart-ment of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. For more information, call UT Southwestern at (214) 648-3404.