Abstract

Pheniprazine (Cavodil - Benger) is a monoamine oxidase inhibitor which was withdrawn by the manufacturers in 1962, because of its serious toxic effects on the liver and on vision.¹ The drug is listed in Medindex (1964, 4, p. 95) and MIMS (December 1964, p. 51) as being indicated in the treatment of depression. Medindex states that the drug has been withdrawn, but is available for patients for whom it is essential. The entry in MIMS mentions neither fact, implying that pheniprazine is one of many MAO inhibitors “available for prescription in general practice in Great Britain”. We consider that it is primarily the responsibility of manufacturers to see that facts of this kind are not omitted from any published information about their drugs. We are glad that the manufacturers of Cavodil have now asked MIMS and Medindex not to list the drug in future editions.