Medical practice without antianxiety drugs.

The benzodiazepines and hydroxyzine were removed from a statewide Medicaid pharmacopeia. Barbiturate sedatives, hypnotic and antipsychotic medication, and tricyclic antidepressants remained available, but no substitution was made for about two-thirds of the deleted ataractic medications. The authors conclide that most physicans regard ataractics as unique and do not use them interchangeably with the other drugs.