Despite FDA warnings seven years ago, people taking second generation anti-psychotic (SGA) medicines are still not receiving adequate follow-up for life-shortening side effects. This is the conclusion of a study following more than 310,000 Medicaid patients in three states, appearing in the January issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. The authors write that, "on average, less than 30% of SGA-treated patients received baseline serum glucose and less than 15% received lipid testing." These tests have been recommended as a result of the side effects, now appearing to reduce the average life expectancy by 25 years.
