Chlormezanone in Anxiety : A Drug Rediscovered?

The efficacy of chlormezanone, an infrequently prescribed minor tranquilizer, was tested in a six-week double-blind trial involving 154 anxious outpatients. The results showed that chlormezanone (800 mg./day) was significantly more effective than placebo and was equal in effectiveness to chlordiazepoxide (40 mg./day). Chlormezanone produced significantly more sedation and more side effects, but no more attrition, than chlordiazepoxide. Furtherstudies confirming these results could establish chlormezanone as a useful antianxiety agent.