Antidepressants Work No Better Than a Placebo

Matthew Whalley writes "Researchers got hold of published and unpublished data from drug companies regarding the effectiveness of the most common antidepressant drugs. Previously, when meta-analyses have been conducted on only the published data, the drugs were shown to have a clinically significant effect. However, when the unpublished data is taken into account the difference between the effects of drug and placebo becomes clinically meaningless — just a 1 or 2 point difference on a 30-point depression rating scale — except for the most severely depressed patients. Doctors do not recommend that patients come off antidepressant drugs without support, but this study is likely to lead to a rethink regarding how the drugs are licensed and prescribed."

Comments

Re:Prozac changed my life

[JustOK]

no, you're not.

(SIGH) that figures

[192939495969798999]

(SIGH) nothing ever works, its hopeless!

Re:This just in!

[Brian Gordon]

What? It's a placebo? AAH DON'T TELL ME!

*plugs fingers in ears*
la la la la la

Re:Antidepressants, not antipsychotics.

[Thanshin]

You realize that Thorazine is an antipsychotic, not an antidepressant, right? Replaying the joke in slow motion, in case you missed the details:

Original quote: "Antidepressants work no better than a placebo."
Joke response: "He's delusional! Quick, give him some Thorazine! Or sugar! Whichever you can get faster."

Thus, they'd be giving him sugar for his delusions of antidepressants being a placebo. Hilarity ensues.

Re:Further evidence...

[The Grassy Knoll]

>consumers would tend to evaluate a widget more favorably if they had paid more money for it.

Pah. Does every Slashdot comment need an Apple angle?

.

Re:This just in!

[Rosy At Random]

I no longer consider suicide as an option, but whether this marks an improved state of mind or simply reflects my belief in quantum immortality, I can't say!

The cure...

[Dr. Cody]

...craniectomy!

Re:mod parent up

[Ayeffkay]

You can do long and lasting damage by quitting antidepressant medication cold turkey. Unless it's just a placebo.

Re:Eli Lilly CEO

[martin-boundary]

I just listened to the CEO of Eli Lilly speak for an hour last night,

My condolences. Here's a translation for you.

and he said most prescription drugs work at best in 80% of patients who are diagnosed with the disease it's supposed to treat.

"Don't blame us if it doesn't work as advertised"

Selling drugs that don't work is an unsustainable business policy.

"Trust us, what we give you really works as advertised, honest"

He talked about Strattera, [...]

"Look, shiny thing"

Anyways, a lot of drug trial data is needed to find the population where the drug works.

"We work really hard, no expense is spared"

In a lot of cases the drug might not work at all.

"Don't blame us if it doesn't work as advertised"

Re:The Black Dog

[big_paul76]

Did you ever see the Simpsons episode where they diagnosed Bart with ADD?

The scene where the two doctors are advocating a medication called "focusin", that they describe as being "the best possible treatment, except for (roll of the eyes, and dismissive shrug) *snort* regular _exercise_."