Am J Psychiatry 1977; 134:798-601
Copyright © 1977 by American Psychiatric Association
Behavioral toxicity and equivocal suicide associated with chloroquine and its derivatives
MI Good and RI Shader
Although the antimalarial agents chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, and
amodiaquine are widely used to treat a variety of medical conditions, their
behavioral toxicity and lethality are not generally recognized. Therapeutic
doses sometimes cause psychosis, delirium, personality change, and
depression. Since moderately low overdoses of chloroquine can result in
rapid death, such behavioral effects could lead to accidental or
state-dependent overdosage and death.
