Summary: An April 1975 report on the Veterans Administration (VA) controls over the use of psychotherapeutic drugs resulted in the following recommendations: establish uniform guidelines for using psychotherapeutic drugs; establish a drug utilization review system and require the hospitals to implement it; and design an effective, ongoing education program. A followup review indicated that the Department of Medicine and Surgery (DM&S) has initiated actions which may eventually result in controlling the use of psychotherapeutic drugs, but it has not fully implemented these recommendations. The VA is finalizing a new program guide which will update guidelines and summarize new information about the use of antipsychotic drugs. The VA should continue to update these guidelines as more current information becomes available. The VA has not established a drug utilization review system and intends to survey psychotherapeutic drug use more extensively before designing such a system. DM&S is currently planning a comprehensive drug utilization survey for inpatient, outpatient, nursing home care units, and domiciliaries and is operating a pilot project to determine the effectiveness of a computerized drug monitoring system. It appears that this system, if implemented agency-wide, could meet the recommendation for a drug utilization review system. A DM&S study indicated that inappropriate use of psychotherapeutic drugs has decreased as a result of educational programs.
