Drug Treatment of Chronic Ambulatory Patients
DAVID M. ENGELHARDT M.D.1
1 Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Psychopharmacology Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Downstate Medical Center, 450 Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. 11203
The introduction and widespread use of psychotropic drugs have raised many problems for the community physician. The private practitioner (whether psychiatrist or general practitioner) should be alert to problems of safety, toxicity, and side effects. Unless he is an expert in psychopharmacology, he should restrict himself to prescribing only a small number of drugs and should determine by clinical trial the optimal dosage for each patient.
