Turn on cookies to sign in
Signing in saves your progress to your Curie account. We can only do that with cookies on — turn them on to continue.
Staying on antipsychotics just got a boost. A real-world Medicare study found that patients who started valbenazine (Ingrezza) for tardive dyskinesia were 18% less likely to discontinue their antipsychotic medications. For patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, this could mean fewer relapses, hospitalizations, and ER visits down the line.
Staying on antipsychotics just got a boost
A new retrospective study of Medicare claims found that initiating valbenazine (Ingrezza) — a VMAT2 inhibitor approved for tardive dyskinesia — was associated with significantly better antipsychotic adherence. Among patients with schizophrenia or other psychotic spectrum disorders, starting valbenazine was linked to an 18% lower risk of stopping all antipsychotics for at least 60 days. The findings were presented at the NEI Fall Congress in Colorado Springs.
Tardive dyskinesia is a movement disorder that often develops as a side effect of long-term antipsychotic use, and it can prompt patients to stop their psychiatric medications — a risky move that can trigger relapse. Researchers analyzed 100% Medicare claims from 2016 to 2023, identifying over 66,000 eligible beneficiaries with a new tardive dyskinesia diagnosis.
By the Numbers
Why it matters: Antipsychotic discontinuation in patients with serious mental illness is a major driver of psychiatric relapse and costly hospitalizations. These findings suggest that treating tardive dyskinesia proactively with valbenazine may do double duty — managing the movement disorder while keeping patients on the psychiatric medications they need.
