Suicide

To the Editor: In the review article on suicide by Fazel and Runeson (Jan. 16 issue), 1 the authors mention that placebo-controlled trials of antipsychotic medications “have shown reductions in suicide rates, but these results have been uncertain.” They omitted trials of clozapine from their discussion; clozapine is the only medication that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for reducing the risk of recurrent suicidal behavior in persons with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. This approval was based on the results of an 18-month, randomized, single-blind (trial staff who rated outcomes were unaware of the group assignments) clinical trial — . . .