Posted by SLS on September 19, 2006, at 12:44:20
In reply to Here's my first and last word(s), posted by fca on September 19, 2006, at 11:18:47
> Therefore, contra some of the media "hype" on this topic, antidepressant research confirms an empirically demonstrated drug-placebo difference, although careful examination of this literature reveals that this difference is not nearly as large as most individuals believe, or as many of the pharmaceutical companies would have the public believe.
IMO: It is unfortunate that, in a rush to recruit patients for their studies, pharmaceutical-funded clinical trials have encouraged, perhaps unwittingly, the recruitment of people who are not suffering from true moderate to severe Major Depressive Disorder without a confounding comorbidity. This has both increased the rate of placebo response and reduced the rate of true drug response. My guess is that drug companies pay the clinical trial businesses by the subject and give incentives or apply pressure to expedite trial completion. This is probably more true now than it was 30 years ago. Thus we have seen a drift in both placebo and true drug response numbers in the directions I have indicated. This can be demonstrated in the literature.I think these drugs work better than many of the current clinical studies indicate, and at least as well as they did 30 years ago. Effexor might be the best antidepressant out there, and would probably give Anafranil a run for its money.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:686696
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060919/msgs/687410.html