Second-Generation Antipsychotics In terms of dollar amount, antipsychotic medications were the highest-selling class of pharmaceuticals in the United States in 2010, generating over 10 billion dollars in annual sales (IMS Health, 2010). Helping to fuel the increase in sales was the development of the new atypical antipsychotic medications, which are much more expensive than the older, traditional antipsychotic drugs. A second factor is the increased off-label use of antipsychotic medications for non-psychotic conditions, including the anxiety disorders and bipolar disorder—despite the fact that there is little evidence to support the use of these powerful drugs to treat the symptoms of these disorders (Alexander & others, 2010; Comer & others, 2011).

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