Consensus statement on the use of clozapine during the COVID-19 pandemic

• DOI: 10.1503/jpn.200061
• Publication Date: 2020-04-28T12:53:00Z
• Authors: Dan Siskind; William G. Honer; Scott Clark; Christoph U. Correll; Alkomiet Hasan; Oliver Howes; John M. Kane; Deanna L. Kelly; Robert Laitman; Jimmy Lee; James H. MacCabe; Nick Myles; Jimmi Nielsen; Peter F. Schulte; David Taylor; Helene Verdoux; Amanda Wheeler; Oliver Freudenreich
• Keywords: Consensus; Neutropenia; Coronavirus Infections/blood; Pneumonia, Viral; Clinical sciences; Viral/blood; Betacoronavirus; 03 medical and health sciences; COVID-19 Testing; 0302 clinical medicine; Neutropenia/chemically induced; 2738 Psychiatry and Mental health; 2736 Pharmacology (medical); Humans; Pharmacology (medical); Clozapine; Pandemics; Cognitive and computational psychology; Biological Psychiatry; PharmacoEpi-Drugs; Schizophrenia/blood; Clinical Laboratory Techniques; SARS-CoV-2; Neurosciences; COVID-19; Pneumonia; Clozapine/adverse effects; 3. Good health; Psychiatry and Mental health; Schizophrenia; [SDV.SPEE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Santé publique et épidémiologie; Antipsychotic Agents/adverse effects; Coronavirus Infections; 2803 Biological Psychiatry; Antipsychotic Agents

With the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, psychiatrists find themselves in the clinical situation of being asked by patients, family members and patient advocacy societies to help ensure access to clozapine as a medication critical for ongoing patient care. To provide clozapine prescribing guidance and facilitate regulatory agencies modifying laboratory monitoring and/or dispensing requirements, an expert advisory subgroup of the Treatment Response and Resistance in Psychosis working group developed the following background, recommendations and rationale as a consensus statement.