I agree that it's imperfect, but the article didn't even mention the assistance programs, which will ideally tide you over until you obtain insurance coverage either through employment or Medicaid. Doctors prescribing something they don't feel is proper treatment without even trying to get the patient assistance verges on unethical, IMO. I don't think it has much of anything to do with mental healthcare stigma either. My mother's diabetic supplies and insulin would cost over $800/month without insurance, and that's not a mental health condition. It's a systematic problem with the entire pharmaceutical industry.

The attitude that "newer treatments are better" irks me even more, though. Diabetes, weight gain, and metabolic disorders are nothing to dismiss, and they happen with many atypical APs at a rate higher than the 20% TD risk that article listed for Haldol (I'd like to know where they got that number too, and what the dosage schedule used in the study was). One woman in my bipolar support group almost died from fluid retention caused by an atypical AP screwing with her metabolic system. Abilify and Latuda lower these risks some, but they still exist, and both those drugs have a lower efficacy rate at treating positive psychotic symptoms. It's a real "pick your poison" situation and Haldol is a perfectly reasonable treatment option.