Does psychiatry have the most drugs?

[Amarant]

Do psychiatrists get to use the most different drugs compared to other specialties? It seems to me there's a lot medications, if not the most.

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[downwithDTB]

Sadly, anesthesiologists use the most drugs...

 

[Mad Jack]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2766183/

Anesthesia uses all the drugs.

Seriously though, I think heme/onc probably has the largest panel of drugs, given the number of targeted therapies there are these days.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

A knowledgable family physician should utilize the most drugs

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[Guyton]

A knowledgable family physician should utilize the most drugs

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or Internist

 

[Ceke2002]

Anesthesia uses all the drugs.

Yes, yes they do.

(Okay that was a smart alec response referencing a small group of anaesthetists from a particular hospital in South Australia, who were rather infamous for some of their after hours partying back in the 90s -- because apparently a lot of medications have the ability to develop legs and walk out of a hospital under their own volition ).

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Yes, yes they do.

(Okay that was a smart alec response referencing a small group of anaesthetists from a particular hospital in South Australia, who were rather infamous for some of their after hours partying back in the 90s -- because apparently a lot of medications have the ability to develop legs and walk out of a hospital under their own volition ).

It's a known problem on this side of the pond as well--high risk population for dependence.

 

[Ceke2002]

It's a known problem on this side of the pond as well--high risk population for dependence.

Yes, so I've heard. I know at least a couple of the anaesthetists at the hospital whose name I won't mention did end up going from 'party time' to dependence, although at the time (mid 90s) it seemed as if so long as they could still function, and weren't found passed out in a walk in medicine supply cabinet, the hospital seemed to adopt a 'if we don't see it, it isn't happening' policy. I think things are a little better now, or at least I hope they are.

 

[HarryMTieboutMD]

To the original poster: no. And most of the drugs we use (and are being developed) are variations on several different themes. Mechanistically, psychopharmacology hasn't changed that much since the advent of SSRIs.

 

[DD214_DOC]

No, we actually don't have very many -- it just seems like we do. Stimulants, for example, appear to have a plethora of options but in reality there are only two -- methylphenidate and amphetamine. There just seems like a ton of them because of the varying delivery mechanisms or the stereoisomers of the two.

Well, actually there are three but nobody talks about the third ....

 

[nancysinatra]

I bet we have the most copycat drugs. How many atypicals are there now?

I once counted all the drugs in psychiatry and it was depressingly low. Even more depressing is that we use only a small portion of all psych drugs. I am always excited when someone comes in and says they are taking Melloril or Nardil and it is the only thing that works for them. Phenobarbital is another one. And I would like to learn more about sodium amytal.

 

[Shikima]

I bet we have the most copycat drugs. How many atypicals are there now?

I once counted all the drugs in psychiatry and it was depressingly low. Even more depressing is that we use only a small portion of all psych drugs. I am always excited when someone comes in and says they are taking Melloril or Nardil and it is the only thing that works for them. Phenobarbital is another one. And I would like to learn more about sodium amytal.