Diagnosis of autism

Dr Cosgrove has clearly misunderstood my argument that there is no
valid scientific evidence in favor of Risperidone versus Haloperdidol.

In Sweden we seldom find it necessary to use haloperidol doses above
6 mg / day and comparing risperidone and haloperidol in these dosintervals
( 2 -6 mg/d each )the frequence of eps are about the same with both drugs.

Risperidone , however, has a significantly higher sideeffect on
prolactinelevels than haloperdidol, which , especially in treatment of
children,in my opinion is a very strong argument to choose haloperidol as
a first treatment strategy.

In the published studies comparing the two drugs above,with regard of
eps frequency, doses of risperidone is 4-8 mg /d and haloperidol 18 -
25mg/d.This is not an adequate and correct comparison and consequently no
relevant conclusions can be made from these flawed studies.

Finally, the economic aspect. The wealth of the nation has nothing to
do with our responsibilities as physicians , choosing the optimal
treatment for our patients and putting the taxpayers money in best
possibly use.

Competing interests:
None declared