Establishing Guidelines for Pharmacotherapy Trials in Bulimia Nervosa and Anorexia Nervosa James E. Mitchell, 1 * Basir Tareen, 1 William Sheehan, 1 Stewart Agras, 2 Timothy D. Brewerton, 3 Scott Crow, 4 Michael Devlin, 5 Elke Eckert, 4 Katherine Halmi, 6 David Herzog, 7 Marsha Marcus, 8 Pauline Powers, 9 Albert Stunkard, 10 and B. Timothy Walsh 5 1 Neuropsychiatric Research Institute/University of North Dakota School of Medicine, Fargo, North Dakota 2 Department of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California 3 Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 4 Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis, Minnesota 5 New York State Psychiatric Institute, Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York 6 Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University School of Medicine, White Plains, New York 7 Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 8 Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 9 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 10 Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Accepted 2 February 2000 Abstract: Objective: This paper addresses the lack of a standard protocol for pharmaco- therapy trials for patients with bulimia nervosa (BN) and anorexia nervosa (AN). Method: Twenty-two surveys were sent to established researchers in the field of eating disorders to elicit their opinions regarding medication trials, including baseline laboratory tests, the op- timal length/frequency of medication management sessions, and the information that should or should not be included in these sessions. Results: Sixteen of 22 researchers completed and returned the survey. Their answers are the basis of the data presented. Discussion: We propose a battery of screening laboratory tests for both conditions. We suggest 30–45-min *Correspondence to: Dr. James Mitchell, NRI, 700 1st Avenue South, P.O. Box 1415, Fargo, ND 58107. E-mail: mitchell@medicine.nodak.edu © 2000 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.