‘Dear Doctor’ Letters Use Peer Pressure, Government Warning To Stop Overprescribing

About a decade ago, the FDA started requiring drugmakers to add black box warnings to labels and prescribing information for Soroquel and other antipsychotic drugs. The agency made the change after the medications were linked to an increased risk of death among elderly dementia patients.

Researchers found that a simple letter to doctors, focusing on their high prescribing rates, reduced their tendency to give risky antipsychotic drugs to their patients, including some with dementia.

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