As exemplified by SJS during carbamazepine treatment, we need to identify good predictive markers of severe adverse events arising during psychopharmacologic treatment. Such markers could enable much wider use of drugs such as clozapine that offer distinct advantages to the majority of patients, while preventing exposure of those at high risk for severe events. Recent suggestive data on genomic predictors of metabolic syndrome may be an early example of this approach [reviewed in Chowdhury et al. 2011).
