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# End Clozapine REMS: Psychiatrist
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/end-clozapine-rems-psychiatrist/
- Published: 2020-03-31T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T16:09:28.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5146456

Board-certified psychiatrist **David Behar**, who says he has hundreds of former and dozens of current clozapine patients, is asking FDA to decommission the antipsychotic clozapine REMS program and allow healthcare professionals to rely on clinical judgment for treating and monitoring clozapine patients. Behar’s 3/9 [petition](https://www.regulations.gov/contentStreamer?documentId=FDA-2020-P-1073-0001&attachmentNumber=2&contentType=pdf&ref=fdaweb.com) specifically asks the agency to: 

- decommission the clozapine REMS program;
- remove the requirement that healthcare providers be certified to prescribe clozapine; and
- remove language regarding mandatory blood testing and the clozapine REMS program, replacing them with the wording provided in the petition.

Behar says the REMS requires healthcare professionals to be certified to prescribe clozapine and requires that patients be monitored by submitting to weekly and then bi-weekly blood draws. He writes that the blood-draw requirement is a significant deterrent to patients’ willingness to take clozapine.