Chlorpromazine * has been used with great success in all fields of medicine and surgery in treating neuroses, psychoses, nausea, and vomiting and as an agent to augment the effect of anesthetics and opiates. One of the side-effects observed with the use of the drug is an obstructive type of jaundice that may develop insidiously or with an abrupt onset of mild grippe-like symptoms. The duration of the jaundice is variable, and its onset seems to be related to the duration of treatment.
The precise determination of the incidence of this type of jaundice has been difficult. Obviously, some cases have not been reported. An estimate of the incidence, based on reports in the American, Canadian, and
British literature, has been published.1 Although the average incidence is about 1.4%, Table 1 indicates a wide variation in the incidence of jaundice reported for individual studies. In the authors' experience, which includes