Phenothiazine Side-Effects

Abstract
In the six years since Delay and his associates first used chlorpromazine in psychiatry, at least forty-eight separate side-effects have been attributed to the drug. While many of these are minor, and indeed the majority are readily controlled in in-patients, the search for a phenothiazine of therapeutic value equal to or better than chlorpromazine, but with less or no side-effects, is well worth while. In out-patients there are two reasons for taking side-effects seriously. Firstly, they frequently lead to the patient ceasing to take the drug and thus relapse may occur. Secondly, they may be dangerous or even fatal if unreported—for example the signs of agranulocytosis.