Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome

NEUROLEPTIC drugs, also known as antipsychotic agents and "major" tranquilizers, are among the most commonly prescribed medications in use today. In 1983 six neuroleptic agents were among the 200 most prescribed drugs in the United States. 1 Neuroleptic drugs are used extensively in the treatment of psychotic illnesses and are widely employed in general medicine as antiemetics, for dissociative anesthesia, and to treat diseases such as Tourette's syndrome. They have many well-known side effects —e.g., extrapyramidal effects. 2 The neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS), however, a hyperpyrexic syndrome that is frequently fatal, is not widely recognized. In fact, one popular, authoritative textbook makes . . .