Posted by Klavot on July 16, 2006, at 3:19:06
In reply to Re: couldn't have said it better myself » SLS, posted by linkadge on July 15, 2006, at 22:45:02
> >Flexible dosing paradoxically reduces the >response to placebo without augmenting the >response to the antidepressant. All of these >findings suggest that the use of placebo is >mandatory when assessing new antidepressants.
>
> Thats exactly what I have been saying. The use of placebo is "mandatory". It can absolutely bring contest to any trial.
>Placebo should be mandatory when testing absolute efficacy of a drug, I agree. But as others have pointed out already, the STAR*D study was designed to *compare* algorithm success rates, not to test whether the drugs actually work. Besides, from the "real-world" setting of the study, placebo would have been impractical. The study was conducted on patients actively seeking treatment rather than patients consenting to participate in research.
poster:Klavot
thread:662854
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060709/msgs/667434.html