Seroquel (quetiapine), an atypical antipsychotic medication, is FDA approved for the treatment of schizophrenia, mania, bipolar depression, and maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder. It is used off-label for many different reasons. In a prison environment, it is often used to target problems with anxiety, sleep, and impulse control.
In the early 2000′s, Seroquel came up on the radar of my correctional system primarily because of cost. Not only was it expensive to use, but it was being greatly over-prescribed.
Shortly thereafter, it was recognized as not only costing money but also as likely being abused and diverted.
This suspicion was further validated when a somewhat famous letter to the editor of the American Journal of Psychiatry was printed in September 2004 detailing the extent of
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