Posted by bassman on July 13, 2006, at 16:32:50
In reply to Re: To Those Who Switched From Celexa to Lexapro.., posted by qbsbrown on July 13, 2006, at 14:29:27
Yes, I'm serious and it is very well known and very embarassing to drug companies. Check it out on the web or if you'd like me to dig up some references to depress you, I will. Recently there was a journal article ref on this board where Celexa was compared to Lexapro and neither were better than placebo, many others...
My theory on why that is (which is worth about 2 cents) is that clinical trials last, say, 8 weeks. During that period, there is a significant number of people that go into remission spontaneously. That makes the math messy: if 50% of the people went into remission of their own accord and the AD was effective for 30% of the people, then the statistics, without error, would be placebo 50%, AD 65%. But there is always a large error in any study involving creatures and 10% error would be great. So the results could look like 55% for placebo to 59% for AD easily. You get the idea: the only way you can get a really good number is to make the placebo group promise they won't get better. :>}
As you can imagine, the anti-AD folks have a picnic with the "no difference between AD and placebo" studies, of which there are many. Oh, check the package insert for any AD you might have and see if you are inpressed with how well the AD did clinically. :>}
poster:bassman
thread:666681
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060709/msgs/666818.html