Abstract

Pimozide (Orap), is a diphenylbutylpiperidine, a chemical class separate from the phenothiazines and the butyrophenones. It is being extensively promoted for the treatment of schizophrenia. It is claimed to be as effective as fluphenazine but to have fewer unwanted effects, and to require only one oral dose (up to 10 mg) daily. However even a single dose that is effective for a whole day still falls far short of the advantages of a long-acting, injectable drug for treating patients with chronic schizophrenia which were discussed in our article on the long-acting fluphenazine preparations.¹