CSP 2015: Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind Comparator Study of Antipsychotics Pimavanserin and Quetiapine for Parkinson’s Disease Psychosis

Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) sometimes experience symptoms affecting their movement, such as slowness, tremor, stiffness, and balance or walking problems.  Many patients also have other symptoms not related to movement, called non-motor symptoms, which may affect one’s mood or emotions, memory or thinking, or cause the person to see or hear things that aren’t real (hallucinations) or firmly believe things that aren’t true (delusions).  Hallucinations or delusions, together called psychosis, occur in up to 60% of PD patients at some point during  the course of their illness.  
Quetiapine is drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that is the most commonly used medication to treat PD psychosis, but more studies are needed to determine if it  clearly improves psychosis symptoms and is also well tolerated and safe.  Pimavanserin is a newer antipsychotic drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) specifically to treat PD psychosis, but more studies are needed to determine how well it works and how safe it is.
The purpose of this research study is to gather additional information on the safety and effectiveness of both quetiapine and pimavanserin.  By doing this study, we hope to learn which of these medications is the most effective treatment for people with PD psychosis.  Your individual participation in this research will last up to approximately 54 weeks.

Principal Investigator: Robert white
Study Coordinator: Fahreta Hamzabegovic