Antipsychotics are FDA approved for a variety of diagnoses including but not limited to: Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Major Depression (as adjunct treatment) and Autistic Disorder (to treat associated irritability). However, there are situations in which a clinician may prescribe an antipsychotic “off-label".
In the public and health care arena concerns have been raised, not only about the “off-label" prescribing, but also about the lack of side effect (including weight, body mass index and blood glucose and lipid levels) monitoring of antipsychotics.
Federally, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report has outlined concerns about antipsychotic use in Medicaid recipients in Foster Care.
Published guidelines addressing some of the above issues include, but are not limited to, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Practice Parameters for Atypical Antipsychotics and The American Diabetes Association/American Psychiatric Association consensus statement issued in 2004 recommending monitoring body mass index and blood glucose and blood lipid levels on patients taking atypical antipsychotics.
To support providers who prescribe this drug class, the Office of Pharmacy Services (OPS) has established two programs.
- Peer Review Program (PRP)
- Tier 2 & Non-Preferred Antipsychotic Review Program
