summary
Mortality in schizophrenic patients is clearly higher than in the general population. One of the reasons is the higher prevalence of the lethal side-effects of antipsychotics: diabetic ketoacidosis, prolonged qt-c time and gastro-intestinal hypomotility associated with clozapine are three serious side-effects which sometimes prove fatal. Systematic screening, however, means that sideeffects can be diagnosed at an earlier, less severe stage, leading to higher rates of survival and remission. This should contribute to a normalising of the mortality rate.