Posted by dr. dave on August 20, 2002, at 5:31:12
In reply to How do you act on that information? » dr. dave, posted by Anyuser on August 19, 2002, at 11:12:18
I am a practicing psychiatrist and I prescribe Celexa widely. I have a responsibility not to prescribe everything that is claimed to be new and improved until I have some decent scientific information to justify changing from using drugs that I am familiar with.
It is true that Zoloft is more effective than Paxil for some people (as an example), and we don't know why, but we can fairly safely say that it is because they are different drugs which work slightly differently. My puzzlement about claims that Lexapro works better than Celexa are founded on the fact that the active element is the exact same molecule, atom for atom.
The financial issue is relevant as there will always be some limit on the funds available for treating mental disorder. I think that as much benefit should be obtained from those resources as possible. I don't think we can afford to waste money. Paying significantly more for a drug on the basis that the manufacturers think it is better is not justifiable unless there is decent evidence to back that claim up. To date that evidence does not exist.
poster:dr. dave
thread:109458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020814/msgs/117062.html