A "DOUBLE BLIND" STUDY COMPARING RO 4-0403, TRIFLUOPERAZINE AND A PLACEBO IN CHRONICALLY ILL MENTAL PATIENTS
ANTIOCO BARRON M.D.,
BARBARA BECKERING R. N.,
LESTER H. RUDY M.D., , and
JACKSON A. SMITH M.D.1
1 Staff of the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute, Chicago, Illinois.
1. RO 4-0403 (Taractan) produced a beneficial response in 7 of a group of 30 extremely chronic psychotic patients. Those patients who responded showed a decrease in agitation, appeared more friendly and expressed the subjective sensation of "feeling better." Undesirable side effects were observed in only 2 of the 30 patients treated. From these results it would appear that this compound can be safely and effectively used in acute psychiatric disorders.
2. Trifluoperazine (Stelazine) is a potent drug that is effective in reducing the symptomatology in chronic psychotic patients. In this study more than half the patients who received trifluoperazine showed a desirable change of behavior during the study but side effects were noted in 40% of those treated. These side effects usually appeared at a high dosage and disappeared promptly after the administration of anti-Parkinsonian drugs.
3. Since only 1 patient out of 30 showed a slight improvement while receiving a placebo, it is presumed that suggestion and attention were of minimal importance in producing the changes observed with the active compounds.
