Over the past 40 years, clinicians have refined the pharmacologic treatment of patients with schizophrenia. Within the past several years, the introduction of two new antipsychotic medications, clozapine and risperidone, has considerably improved the quality of life of patients with schizophrenia. The availability of these newer antipsychotic drugs raises several questions: how wel patients will comply with these medications, how to accurately assess efficacy, and how to switch from one antipsychotic agent to another. Each of these issues is addressed in this article.
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