Background: When a new class of drugs is introduced, it is natural that we have meta-analyses of these individual drugs. When the number of available drugs within the class grows, we are tempted to perform metaanalyses of this new class of drugs against other classes. However, class reviews can only tell if a class of drugs is better than the others. Individual drug reviews making head-to-head comparisons can show how it compares with the others, but cannot point the ‘best’ within the class, unless one drug stands out as a clear winner. We reviewed how the literature is handling the growing body of evidence to provide a guideline for clinicians who must choose one drug to prescribe. Objectives: To provide a historical review of individual drug and class meta-analyses in the areas of new generation antidepressants and antipsychotics. Methods: We performed a PubMed search for meta-analyses of new generation antidepressants and antipsychotics. Two reviewers classified each article as focusing on: individual drugs (one individual drug versus placebo or versus other active drugs); on class (class of drugs versus placebo or versus other classes); or on between-drug comparisons with possible ranking among different drugs. Results: The electronic search identified 112 metaanalyses for new generation antidepressants since 1991, 82 of which were on individual drugs, 29 on class and one on between-drug comparisons. Fifty-two articles were identified for antipsychotics since 1995, 36 of which on individual drugs, 16 on class and one on between-drug comparisons. Conclusions: As the number of relevant RCTs grows, we can now integrate all the head-to-head individual comparisons into one network - namely, multiple-treatments meta-analyses (MTM). We were able to identify one such informal attempt each for both antidepressants and antipsychotics, but clinicians would need more rigorous analyses of this type to inform their everyday practices. Within the Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Review Group, we started with class reviews but moved on to individual drug reviews, based on which we are currently undertaking formal MTM for 13 new generation antidepressants.