A total of 18 hospitalized elderly psychotic patients in need of antipsychotic treatment took part in a double-blind exploratory study concerning the safety, tolerability and efficacy of remoxipride and thioridazine. Their median age was 78 years (range 66-90 years). Over the study period of 6 weeks, 9 patients received remoxipride and 9 thioridazine. Both drugs were given in a dosage range of 50-200 mg/day. The median total score on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale at the start of active treatment was 18 in the remoxipride group and 24 in the thioridazine group. The scores were reduced to 6 and 7, respectively, at the last rating. The Clinical Global Impression at last rating showed 4 of the 9 remoxipride patients to be very much improved compared to 1 of the 9 thioridazine patients. Apart from three reports of severe drowsiness in the thioridazine group, the incidence of treatment-emergent adverse effects was low in both groups. No clinically significant aberrations were seen in laboratory tests or cardiovascular data. In conclusion, remoxipride seemed to be well tolerated in this group of patients and its antipsychotic efficacy in the doses used is promising.