Clozapine: Understanding Benefits and Barriers

NAMI Ask the Expert Webinar welcomes Robert O. Cotes, M.D., Director of the Clinical & Research Program for Psychosis at Grady Health, Emory University School of Medicine, who discusses the unique and potentially life-changing benefits of clozapine, an antipsychotic medication used to treat symptoms of schizophrenia.
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Currently, the American Psychiatric Association guidelines recommend a trial of clozapine if a person still has symptoms despite two prior trials of other antipsychotic medications. However, despite its effectiveness, clozapine is underutilized in the U.S. and often treated as a “last resort” option.
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In this presentation, Dr. Cotes helps individuals and families better understand clozapine’s benefits, side effects and recent changes to the FDA’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy regarding the drug.
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NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.