Because of the dearth of FDA –approved medications for eating disorders, psychotherapy has gradually become the treatment of choice. Nonetheless, clinical trials of off-label uses of various medications have yielded a few impressive results, particularly for bulimia and binge eating disorder.

A variety of psychotherapy techniques work well for eating disorders, particularly for bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. This article gives a brief summary of the evidence from controlled clinical trials.

A recent follow-up of the Multisite Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA) study investigated the long-term course of ADHD and the impact of short-term treatment on long-term outcomes.

Researchers assessed predictors of suicidal events and non-suicidal self-harm in a group of 334 moderately to severely depressed adolescents (ages 12-18) who had not responded to at least eight weeks of SSRI treatment.

In a 2005 public health advisory, the FDA warned that antipsychotics appear to increase the rate of mortality in elderly patients with dementia. The implication is that we should discontinue such agents in this population when possible. But does this actually decrease the mortality risk?

Dr. Yager, what is your procedure for evaluating patients with eating disorders?

After reading these articles, you should be able to…

Health care reform is back on the national agenda with a vengeance. Obama made this a central part of his campaign platform and recently met with various insurance and medical groups to begin the lobbying and persuasion process. Why does the Obama administration appear to have high hopes for another attempt at universal health care? And what might such a system mean for psychiatrists?

Psychiatric treatment has been discriminated against by insurance companies for years. The recent passage of historic parity legislation may change this. Can you bring us up to speed on the history of this difficult relationship between insurance companies and psychiatrists?

Dr. Nissen, you have been at the forefront of those who believe that the FDA is not doing a good enough job of warning the public about adverse effects of drugs. What is the problem?